Interactive television program guide with remote access

ABSTRACT

An interactive television program guide with remote access is provided. The interactive television program guide is implemented on interactive television program guide equipment. A remote program guide access device is connected to the interactive television program guide equipment by a remote access link to provide a user with remote access to program guide functions. An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/354,344, filed on Jul. 16, 1999, which claims the benefit of thefiling date of U.S. Provisional application No. 60/093,292, filed Jul.17, 1998 and U.S. Provisional application No. 60/097,527, filed Aug. 21,1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to interactive television program guide videosystems, and more particularly, to interactive television program guidesystems that provide remote access to program guide functionality.

Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers witha large number of television channels. Users have traditionallyconsulted printed television program schedules to determine the programsbeing broadcast at a particular time. More recently, interactiveelectronic television program guides have been developed that allowtelevision program information to be displayed on a user's television.

Interactive television program guides allow the user to navigate throughtelevision program listings using a remote control. In a typical programguide, various groups of television program listings are displayed inpredefined or user-defined categories. Listings are typically displayedin a grid or table.

Interactive television program guides are typically implemented onset-top boxes located in the homes of users. A typical set-top box isconnected to the user's television and videocassette recorder. Theprogram guide system is therefore not portable. As a result, the usercannot use the program guide to adjust program reminder settings, toselect programs for recording, to purchase pay-per-view programs, or toperform other program guide functions without that user being physicallylocated in the same room in the home.

On-line program guides allow users to view program listings using aweb-browser. However, the on-line program guides that are available onthe Internet do not provide the versatility of in-home program guides.For example, on-line program guides do not allow the user to set in-homereminders for programming, to adjust parental control settings, or toselect programs for recording on the user's videocassette recorder.

On-line program guides have also been implemented that allow users toorder pay-per-view programs. Such systems allow users to order programsvia a web server as opposed to via the telephone or using impulseordering. A third party takes orders via the internet, bills the user,and provides ordering information to the headend. The headend authorizesthe user's set-top to view the ordered program using conventional signaldenial or signal scrambling systems without coordinating the ordering ofthe pay-per-view program with an in-home guide. Ordering pay-per-viewprograms in this manner (i.e., without coordinating the order with anin-home guide), does not provide users with many of the benefits ofordering pay-per-views through an in-home guide, such as upcomingprogram reminders or missed program reminders. Users are also notprevented from attempting to order a pay-per-view program with a guideafter the program has been ordered.

Program guides that run on personal computers are also available. Suchprograms guides are useful for users who wish to view program listingsinformation, but who cannot readily access their set-top-box-basedprogram guide. For example, another member of the user's household maybe watching television and therefore dominating the use of the set-topbox and television. Because there is no way for the user of such apersonal computer program guide to coordinate the operation of thepersonal computer program guide with the operation of the set-top boxprogram guide, the user of a personal computer program guide is not ableto use the personal computer program guide to set in-home reminders forprogramming, to adjust parental control settings, to select programs forrecording on the user's videocassette recorder, or to purchasepay-per-view programs.

Presently existing program guide systems therefore require that the userbe physically present in the home to access important program guidefeatures such as program reminders, parental control, and programrecording.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide aninteractive television program guide system in which the program guidemay be remotely accessed by the user. Such a system may allow the userto access important features of the user's in-home program guide from aremote location and set program guide settings for those features.

This invention relates to interactive television program guides, andmore particularly, to techniques for providing interactive televisionprogram guide functionality on multiple devices within a household.

Families often have multiple televisions and set-top boxes placedthroughout the household. A family's household even may include multiplehomes. Because there is no coordination between the program guidesrunning on each of the various set-top boxes in the household, if a useradjusts the settings for a program guide on one set-top box, thesesettings are not communicated to the program guides on any of the otherset-top boxes in the household. If a parent wants to restrict access tocertain channels on all the televisions in the household, the parentmust adjust the parental control settings on each set-top boxindividually. Reminders and favorite channel settings must similarly beset for each program guide separately if a user desires to have suchsettings be in effect throughout the household. Messages sent from thecable operator can only be sent to a particular set-top box. Some cablesystem subscriber management systems can allow a cable operator tomanage all cable boxes within a home (i.e. manage billing for individuallocations within a home). However, such systems do not allow userinteraction with the cable operator.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a programguide system that allows a user to adjust to the user settings of aplurality of program guides at different locations within a householdfrom a single location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This and other objects of the present invention are accomplished inaccordance with the principles of the present invention by providing aninteractive television program guide system with remote access. A localinteractive television program guide is implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment. The interactive television programguide equipment is connected to one or more remote program guide accessdevices over a remote access link. A remote access interactivetelevision program guide is implemented on the remote program guideaccess device. The remote program guide and remote program guide accessdevices provide users with the opportunity to remotely access featuresof the interactive television program guide on the interactivetelevision program guide equipment and to remotely set program guidesettings.

Any suitable interactive television program guide function or settingmay be accessed. The remote access program guide may, for example,provide the user with an opportunity to remotely schedule a reminder fora program, remotely view television program listings, remotely selectprogramming for recordings (storage), remotely play a stored program ora currently broadcasted program on the remote program guide accessdevice, remotely set and navigate through favorites (e.g., favoritechannels, program categories, services, etc.), and remotely set parentalcontrol settings.

The remote program guide access device may also provide the user with anopportunity to remotely perform additional functions such as sending andplaying or displaying messages with the interactive television programguide, polling the interactive program guide for status information, andstoring interactive television program guide data at the remote programguide access device.

Providing remote access to these and other features may allow users tocontrol television related activity in ways and in situations in whichthe users could not do so before. A person who is caught in traffic inan automobile may, for example, access the program guide usingappropriate voice commands to access listings for programs that the useranticipates he or she will not arrive home in time to view. The listingsmay be displayed on a screen, or recited back to the user in synthesizedvoice listings. The user may select any such programs for recording ontheir videocassette recorder or other storage device in the home, or ona server at a television distribution facility or other distributionfacility. Systems in which users store programs on a remote server aredescribed, for example, in Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999 (Attorney Docket No. UV 84), which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

A parent may, for example, access the program guide while at work to seeif a child is watching television. If the child should not be watchingtelevision, the parent may cause the program guide to display a messageto the child (e.g., “Go do your homework!”) and then may prevent viewingvia a parental control feature. On the other hand, if television viewingis prevented by default (e.g., prevented until the parent arrives home),then the parent may remotely access the program guide to allow a childto watch television.

A person at work may, for example, receive a call from a spouse or otherfamily member at home who explains to the person at work that the personat home cannot operate home television equipment as desired (e.g., “Ican't program the VCR!”). The person at work may remotely access theprogram guide, poll for equipment status information, and perform thedesired function.

If desired, non-program-guide applications may be implemented on theuser television equipment. Such non-program-guide applications mayinclude, for example, a web browser application, a home shoppingapplication, a game application, an e-mail application, a chatapplication, a banking application, etc. These applications may beimplemented on a set-top box within the user television equipment. Theuser may adjust the settings of such a non-program-guide applicationusing a remote access device.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments.

These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished inaccordance with the principles of the present invention by providing aninteractive television program guide system for a household in whichmultiple interactive television program guides within the household arecoordinated. In a typical system, various users in the household usevarious pieces of user television equipment (also called user televisionequipment devices). An interactive television program guide isimplemented on each piece of user television equipment. Typical usertelevision equipment may be a set-top box on which a program guideapplication and non-program-guide applications run, a videocassetterecorder connected to the set-top box for recording television programs,and a television on which the program guide application may displayvarious program guide display screens and the non-program-guideapplications may display various non-program-guide display screens.Other suitable types of user television equipment may be based onpersonal computer televisions (PC/TVs) or advanced television receiverssuch as high-definition television (HDTV) receivers.

Each piece of user television equipment may be located in a differentpart of the home. For example, one piece of equipment may be located inthe parents' bedroom. Another piece of equipment may be located in achild's bedroom. Additional pieces of equipment may be located in afamily room, kitchen, living room, etc.

Typical program guide features that may be provided by the programguides of this invention implemented on the user television equipmentinclude features related to setting program reminders, profiles, programrecording features, messaging features, favorites features, parentalcontrol features, program guide set up features (e.g., video displaysettings, language settings, etc.), and other suitable program guidefeatures. The system coordinates operation of the program guides sothat, for example, a user may adjust his favorite channel settings on aprogram guide operating in the living room and those settings will beeffective on the program guide operating in the master bedroom and maytherefore be used by that program guide.

A parent may adjust parental control settings using the program guide inthe parents' room and the system may apply those settings to all programguides in the household. Parents may use the parental control feature tocontrol the viewing of their children even though the children may beviewing television using multiple user television equipment devices. Forexample, parents may establish parental controls to lock variousprograms and services from a master location and the system will applythese parental controls to the various pieces of user televisionequipment throughout the household. The ability to establish favoritechannels, to set reminders, and to control other program guide settingsat one location and to have those settings applied to multiple locationsthroughout the household may be used by both the parents and theirchildren.

A user may adjust his favorite settings on a program guide in the familyroom and may direct the system to apply those settings to the programguides in the family room and the living room. A child may set remindersfor certain programs using the program guide in the family room and maydirect the system to apply those settings only to the program guiderunning in that child's bedroom. A user may select a program forrecording using a program guide in the living room and may request thatthe videocassette recorder in the family room be used to record theselected program. A user may receive messages from a cable systemoperator and may direct the system to make certain types of thosemessages available to the program guide located in all rooms but thechildren's room. A user may adjust language or audio settings using oneprogram guide and have those settings apply globally.

As these examples serve to illustrate, the settings for any suitableprogram guide features may be adjusted using the program guide at onelocation in a household and applied by the system to selected otherprogram guides in the household.

The program guides may be linked using any suitable topologies andcommunication protocols. For example, the various pieces of usertelevision equipment may be interconnected using a tree, bus or ringtopology. One piece of user television equipment may be designated as aprimary device and other pieces of user television equipment may bedesignated as secondary devices. The primary and secondary devices maybe connected in a star arrangement. A remote server may be used toimplement certain program guide features and the pieces of usertelevision equipment in the home may act as clients.

If desired, non-program-guide applications may be implemented on theuser television equipment. Such non-program-guide applications mayinclude, for example, a web browser application, a home shoppingapplication, a game application, an e-mail application, a chatapplication, a banking application, etc. These applications may beimplemented on a set-top box within the user television equipment. Theuser may adjust the settings of such a non-program-guide application atone set-top box. The system coordinates the operation of the variousset-top boxes so that the adjusted settings may be used by similarapplications running on other set-top boxes in the household.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative system inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 2 a-2 d show illustrative arrangements for the interactivetelevision program guide equipment and remote program guide accessdevice of FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative schematic block diagram of the user televisionequipment of FIG. 2 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a generalized schematic block diagram of portions of theillustrative television equipment of FIG. 3 in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative remote programguide access device in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 6 a, 6 b, and 6 c are schematic block diagrams of illustrativearrangements for supporting communications between a remote programguide access device and interactive television program guide equipmentover an Internet link in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are illustrative remote program guide access devicedisplay screens in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative program reminder for display by interactivetelevision program guide equipment or a remote program guide accessdevice in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative favorites screen for display by a remoteprogram guide access device in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative status display screen for display by a remoteprogram guide access device in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 12-23 are illustrative flow charts of steps involved in providingremote access to interactive television program guide features inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an illustrative Internet browser screen for display by aremote access device in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 25 is an illustrative shopping data entry screen for display by aremote access device in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 26 is an illustrative stock ticker data entry screen for display bya remote access device in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram of an interactive television program guide systemin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a flow chart of steps involved in adjusting user settings andapplying those adjustments to desired locations in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 29 is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented in a star configurationaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 30 a is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented in a tree configuration inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 30 b is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented in a ring configuration inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 30 c is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented in a bus configuration inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a diagram of another system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented in a client-serverconfiguration in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented in a client-serverconfiguration and in which the set-top-box acts as the server inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 33 a is a diagram of a system similar to the system of FIG. 27 inwhich multiple interactive television program guides are implemented ina neighborhood node configuration in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 33 b is a diagram of a system similar to the system of FIG. 27showing how servers may be located at network nodes in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 33 c is a diagram of a system similar to the system of FIG. 27showing how homes may be connected by modem links in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 33 d is a diagram of a system similar to the system of FIG. 27showing how homes may be connected via a server in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 34 is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented and in which each such guideuses a real-time communications device connected to the Internet inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a diagram of a system in which multiple interactivetelevision program guides are implemented with an occasional return pathcommunications device in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 36 is a diagram of illustrative user television equipment with anoptional data input device in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 37 is a depiction of an illustrative location selection screen inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 38 is a depiction of an illustrative main menu screen in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 39 is a depiction of another illustrative location selection screenin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 40 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for selecting a location for which to adjust settings inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 41 is a depiction of an illustrative browse screen in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 42 is a depiction of an illustrative set recording screen inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 43 is a depiction of an illustrative setup screen in accordancewith the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An illustrative system 10 in accordance with the present invention isshown in FIG. 1. Main facility 12 provides interactive televisionprogram guide data from program guide data source 14 to interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 via communications link 18. Thereare preferably numerous pieces or installations of interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17, although only one is shown inFIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing. Link 18 may be asatellite link, a telephone network link, a cable or fiber optic link, amicrowave link, a combination of such links, an Internet link, or anyother suitable communications path.

The interactive television program guide data transmitted by mainfacility 12 to interactive television program guide equipment 17 mayinclude television program listings data (e.g., program times, channels,titles, and descriptions) and other program guide data for additionalservices other than television program listings (e.g., pay-per-viewinformation, weather information, associated Internet web links,computer software, etc.). Interactive television program guide equipment17 may be connected to remote program guide access device 24 via remoteaccess link 19. Interactive television program guide equipment may havemore than one associated remote program guide access device 24, althoughonly one such device 24 is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing.

An interactive television program guide is implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17. Four illustrative arrangementsfor interactive television program guide equipment 17 is shown in FIGS.2 a-2 d. As shown in FIGS. 2 a-2 d interactive television program guideequipment 17 may include program guide distribution equipment 21 locatedat television distribution facility 16 and user television equipment 22.Television distribution facility 16 may be any suitable distributionfacility (e.g., a cable system headend, a broadcast distributionfacility, a satellite television distribution facility, or any othersuitable type of television distribution facility). Televisiondistribution facility 16 may distribute program guide data that itreceived from main facility 12 to multiple users via communications path20.

Program guide distribution equipment 21 may be any equipment suitablefor providing program guide data to user television equipment 22.Program guide distribution equipment 21 may include, for example,suitable transmission hardware for distributing program guide data on atelevision channel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of atelevision channel, using an in-band digital channel, using anout-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmissiontechnique. Video signals (e.g., television programming) may also beprovided by program guide distribution equipment 21 to user televisionequipment 22 over communications paths 20 on multiple televisionchannels.

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show illustrative arrangements for interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 and remote program guide accessdevice 24 in systems in which program guide data is provided to usertelevision equipment 22 using a non client-server based approach. Forexample, program guide data may be provided by television distributionfacility 16 to user television equipment 22 in a continuous stream ormay be transmitted at a suitable time interval (e.g., once per hour). Iftransmitted continuously, it may not be necessary to store data locallyat user television equipment 22. Rather, user television equipment 22may extract data “on the fly” as it is needed. If desired, televisiondistribution facility 16 may poll user television equipment 22periodically for certain information (e.g., pay program accountinformation or information regarding programs that have been purchasedand viewed using locally-generated authorization techniques).

In the system configuration of FIG. 2 a, remote program guide accessdevice 24 is connected to user television equipment 22. Televisiondistribution facility 16 may distribute program guide data to usertelevision equipment 22. User television equipment 22 may transfer theprogram guide data to remote program guide access device 24. Usertelevision equipment 22 may also transfer additional data that may benecessary for allowing remote program guide access device 24 to accessvarious functions of the interactive program guide (e.g., reminderinformation, parental control settings, favorite channel settings, userprofiles, etc.). Any suitable distribution scheme may be used. Forexample, user television equipment 22 may provide the data to remoteprogram guide access device 24 continuously, periodically, using aclient-server based approach, using a polling scheme, or using any othersuitable approach. Remote program guide access device 24 may store thedata if suitable for a particular transmission scheme.

In the system configuration of FIG. 2 b, remote program guide accessdevice 24 is connected to television distribution facility 16 viacommunications device 27. In this approach television distributionfacility 16 may distribute program guide data to remote program guideaccess device 24 directly. Television distribution facility 16 may alsodistribute additional data from user television equipment 22 that may benecessary for allowing remote program guide access device 24 to accessvarious functions of the interactive program guide (e.g., reminderinformation, parental control settings, favorite channel settings, userprofiles, etc.). Television distribution facility 16 may provide thedata to remote program guide access device 24 continuously,periodically, using a client-server based approach, using a pollingscheme, or using any other suitable approach. Remote program guideaccess device may store the data if suitable for a particulartransmission scheme.

FIGS. 2 c and 2 d show illustrative arrangements for interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 and remote program guide accessdevice 24 in client-server based interactive program guide systems. Asshown in FIGS. 2 c and 2 d, program guide distribution equipment 21 mayinclude program guide server 25. Program guide server 25 may be anysuitable software, hardware, or combination thereof for providing aclient-server based program guide. Program guide server 25 may, forexample, generate program guide display screens as digital frames anddistribute the frames to user television equipment 22 for display by aninteractive program guide client implemented on user televisionequipment 22. In another suitable approach, program guide server 25 mayrun a suitable database engine, such a SQL server, and provide programguide data in response to queries generated by user television equipment22. If desired, program guide server 25 may be located at main facility12 or at some other facility suitable for providing program guide datavia a program guide server (not shown).

Remote program guide access device 24 may, for example, communicate withuser television equipment 22 over remote access link 19 as shown in FIG.2 c. Requests, commands, or other suitable communications may beprovided by remote program guide access device 24 to user televisionequipment 22 and then forwarded by user television equipment 22 toprogram guide server 25. Program guide data or display screens providedby program guide server 25 may be forwarded by user television equipment22 to remote program guide access device 24.

Alternatively, remote program guide access device 24 may, for example,communicate with program guide server 25 over remote access link 19 viacommunications device 27 as shown in FIG. 2 d. Appropriate commands,requests, or other suitable communications may be transmitted by remoteprogram guide access device 24 for processing by program guide server25. If any changes to program guide settings are made (e.g., a change tothe parental control settings), program guide server may, for example,update a local program guide client running on user television equipment22 with the necessary information.

In the arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 2 b and 2 d, televisiondistribution facility 16 may have communications device 27 forcommunicating with remote program guide access device 24 over remoteaccess link 19. Communications device 27 may be, for example, acommunications port (e.g., a serial port, parallel port, universalserial bus (USB) port, etc.), modem (e.g., any suitable analog ordigital modem, cellular modem, or cable modem), network interface card(e.g., an Ethernet card, token ring card, etc.), wireless transceiver(e.g., an infrared transceiver or other suitable transceiver), or othersuitable communications device.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a-2 d, interactive television program guideequipment 17 communicates with remote program guide access device 24 viaremote access link 19. In practice, remote program guide access device24 may be connected to user television equipment 22 (as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2 c), television distribution facility 16 (as shown in FIG. 2 b),connected to both (as indicated in FIG. 1), or may communicate withremote program guide server 25 (as shown in FIG. 2 d) via remote accesslink 19. Remote access link 19 may be any suitable wired or wirelesscommunications path or paths over which digital or analog communicationsmay take place between interactive television program guide equipment 17and remote program guide access device 24.

Each user has user television equipment 22 for displaying the televisionprogram listings information and other program guide data using a localinteractive television program guide. There are typically multiplepieces of user television equipment 22 and multiple associatedcommunications paths 20, although only one piece of user televisionequipment 22 and communications path 20 are shown in FIGS. 2 a-2 d toavoid overcomplicating the drawing. Television distribution facility 16may distribute television programming to user television equipment 22via communications path 20. If desired, television programming may beprovided over separate communications paths (not shown).

For clarity, the present invention is illustrated, unless otherwiseindicated, in connection with a system arrangement in which programguide data is distributed from a main facility to an interactivetelevision program guide implemented on user television equipment via atelevision distribution facility. Other suitable systems involvearrangements in which data is distributed to a program guide on usertelevision equipment using other suitable distribution schemes, such asschemes involving data transmission over the Internet or the like. Ifdesired, the interactive television program guide application may beimplemented using a client-server architecture in which the primaryprocessing power for the application is provided by a server located at,for example, the television distribution facility or the main facility(e.g., program guide server 25), and user television equipment 22 actsas a client processor as illustrated by FIGS. 2 c and 2 d.Alternatively, the interactive television program guide may obtainprogram guide data from the Internet. On-line program guides aredescribed, for example, in Boyer et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/938,028, filed Sep. 18, 1997, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

An illustrative arrangement for user television equipment 22 is shown inFIG. 3. User television equipment 22 of FIG. 3 receives video and datafrom television distribution facility 16 (FIG. 1) at input 26. Duringnormal television viewing, the user tunes set top box 28 to a desiredtelevision channel. The signal for that television channel is thenprovided at video output 30. The signal supplied at output 30 istypically either a radio frequency (RF) signal on a predefined channel(e.g., channel 3 or 4), or a analog demodulated video signal, but mayalso be a digital signal provided to television 36 on an appropriatedigital bus (e.g., a bus using the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard, (not shown)). The videosignal at output 30 is received by optional secondary storage device 32.

Secondary storage device 32 can be any suitable type of analog ordigital program storage device or player (e.g., a videocassetterecorder, a digital video disc (DVD) player, a hard-disk based storagedevice, etc.). Program recording and other features may be controlled byset top box 28 using control path 34. If secondary storage device 32 isa videocassette recorder, for example, a typical control path 34involves the use of an infrared transmitter coupled to the infraredreceiver in the videocassette recorder that normally accepts commandsfrom a remote control such as remote control 40. Remote control 40 maybe used to control set top box 28, secondary storage device 32, andtelevision 36.

The interactive television program guide may run on set-top box 28, ontelevision 36 (if television 36 has suitable processing circuitry andmemory), on secondary storage device or on optional digital storagedevice 31 (if they have suitable processing circuitry and memory) or ona suitable analog or digital receiver connected to television 36. Theinteractive television program guide may also run cooperatively on bothtelevision 36 and set-top box 28. Interactive television applicationsystems in which a cooperative interactive television program guideapplication runs on multiple devices are described, for example, inEllis U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/186,598, filed Nov. 5, 1998,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

If desired, the user may record programs and program data in digitalform on optional digital storage device 31. Digital storage device 31may be a writable optical storage device (such as a DVD player capableof handling recordable DVD discs), a magnetic storage device (such as adisk drive or digital tape), or any other digital storage device.Interactive television program guide systems that have digital storagedevices are described, for example, in Hassell et al. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep. 17, 1998, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Digital storage device 31 can be contained in set-top box 28 or it canbe an external device connected to set-top box 28 via an output port andappropriate interface. If necessary, processing circuitry in set-top box28 formats the received video, audio and data signals into a digitalfile format. Preferably, the file format is an open file format such asthe Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) MPEG-2 standard. The resultingdata is streamed to digital storage device 31 via an appropriate bus(e.g., a bus using the Institute Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 1394 standard), and is stored on digital storage device 31.Digital storage device 31 and secondary storage device 32 may beintegrated into a sophisticated set-top box if desired.

Television 36 receives video signals from secondary storage device 32via communications path 38. The video signals on communications path 38may either be generated by secondary storage device 32 when playing backa prerecorded storage medium (e.g., a videocassette or a recordabledigital video disc), by digital storage device 31 when playing back apre-recorded digital medium, may be passed through from set top box 28,may be provided directly to television 36 from set-top box 28 ifsecondary storage device 32 is not included in user television equipment22, or may be received directly by television 36. During normaltelevision viewing, the video signals provided to television 36correspond to the desired channel to which the user has tuned with settop box 28. Video signals may also be provided to television 36 byset-top box 28 when set-top box 28 is used to play back informationstored on digital storage device 31.

Set-top box 28 may have communications device 37 for communicating withremote program guide access device 24 over remote access link 19.Communications device 37 may be, for example, a communications port(e.g., a serial port, parallel port, universal serial bus (USE) port,etc.), modem (e.g., any suitable analog or digital modem, cellularmodem, or cable modem), network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card,token ring card, etc.), wireless transceiver (e.g., an infraredtransceiver or other suitable transceiver), or other suitablecommunications device. Television 36 may also have such a suitablecommunications device connected to remote access link 19 if desired.

If desired, there may be multiple installations of user televisionequipment 22 within the home connected via an in-home network. This mayprovide for coordinating the functionality of multiple guides within thehome. Systems in which the functionality of multiple guides arecoordinated are described, for example, in concurrently filed Ellis etal. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,161, filed Jul. 16, 1999(Attorney Docket No. UV-73), which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety. In such systems, remote program guide accessdevice 24 may be connected via remote access link 19 to one of theguides and may provide users with the ability to remotely coordinate thefunctions of all of the guides.

A more generalized embodiment of user television equipment 22 of FIG. 3is shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, program guide data fromtelevision distribution facility 16 (FIGS. 2 a-2 d) is received bycontrol circuitry 42 of user television equipment 22. Control circuitry42 may also send data and commands or requests back to televisiondistribution facility 16. The functions of control circuitry 42 may beprovided using the set top box arrangement of FIGS. 2 a and 2 b.Alternatively, these functions may be integrated into an advancedtelevision receiver, personal computer television (PC/TV), or any othersuitable arrangement. If desired, a combination of such arrangements maybe used.

The user controls the operation of user television equipment 22 withuser interface 46. User interface 46 may be a pointing device, wirelessremote control, keyboard, touch-pad, voice recognition system, or anyother suitable user input device. To watch television, the userinstructs control circuitry 42 to display a desired television channelon display device 45. Display device 45 may be a television, monitor, orother suitable display device. To access the features of the programguide, the user instructs the program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 to generate a main menu or otherdesired program guide display screen for display on display device 45.

User television equipment 22 of FIG. 4 may also have communicationsdevice 51 for supporting communications between user televisionequipment 22 and remote program guide access device 24 over remoteaccess link 19. Communications device 51 may be a communications port(e.g., a serial port, parallel port, universal serial bus (USB) port,etc.), modem (e.g., any suitable analog or digital standard, cellular,or cable modem), network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card, Tokenring card, etc.), wireless transceiver (e.g., an infrared, radio, orother suitable analog or digital transceiver), or other suitablecommunications device.

User television equipment 22 may also have secondary storage device 47,digital storage device 49, or any suitable combination thereof forrecording programming. Secondary storage device 47 can be any suitabletype of analog or digital program storage device (e.g., a videocassetterecorder, a digital video disc (DVD), etc.). Program recording and otherfeatures may be controlled by control circuitry 42. Digital storagedevice 49 can be, for example, a writable optical storage device (suchas a DVD player capable of handling recordable DVD discs), a magneticstorage device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any otherdigital storage device.

An illustrative arrangement for remote program guide access device 24 isshown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, remote program guide access device24 may be any suitable personal computer (PC), portable computer (e.g.,a notebook computer), palmtop computer, handheld personal computer(H/PC), display remote, touch-screen remote, automobile PC, personaldigital assistant (PDA), or other suitable computer based device. Remoteprogram guide access device 24 may have user interface 52, processingcircuitry 54, storage 56, and communications device 58. User interface52 may be any suitable input or output device or system, and may includea pointing device, keyboard, touch-pad, touch screen, pen stylus, voicerecognition system, mouse, trackball, cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor,liquid crystal display (LCD), voice synthesis processor and speaker, orany other suitable user input or output device. Processing circuitry 54may include any suitable processor, such an Intel 486 or Pentium<microprocessor. Remote program guide access device 24 may also havestorage 56. Storage 56 may be any suitable memory or other storagedevice, such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, a hard disk drive, etc.

Remote program guide access device 24 may also have communicationsdevice 58. Communications device 58 may be any device suitable forsupporting communications between remote program access device 24 andinteractive television program guide equipment 17 over link 19, such asa communications port (e.g., a serial port, parallel port, universalserial bus (USB) port, etc.), modem (e.g., any suitable analog ordigital standard modem or cellular modem), network interface card (e.g.,an Ethernet card, token ring card, etc.), wireless transceiver (e.g., aninfrared, radio, or other suitable analog or digital transceiver), orother suitable communications device.

Remote access link 19 (FIG. 1) may include any suitable transmissionmedium. Link 19 may include, for example, a serial or parallel cable, adial-up telephone line, a computer network or Internet link (e.g.,10Base2, 10Base 5, 10BaseT, 100BaseT, 10BaseF, T1, T3, etc.), an in-homenetwork link, an infrared link, a radio frequency link, a satellitelink, any other suitable transmission link or suitable combination ofsuch links. Any suitable transmission or access scheme may be used suchas standard serial or parallel communications, Ethernet, Token Ring,Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Circuit-Switched Cellular(CSC), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), RAM mobile data, GlobalSystem for Mobile communications (GSM), time division multiple access(TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), any other suitabletransmission or access scheme, or any suitable combination thereof.Preferably remote access link 19 is bidirectional. If desired, however,certain limited program guide functions may be accessed using aunidirectional link. An advantage of using a unidirectional scheme forlink 19 is that such schemes are generally less complicated and thenless expensive than bidirectional links.

Remote program guide access device 24 and interactive television programguide equipment 17 may communicate over remote access link 19 using anysuitable network and transport layer protocols, if desired. Remoteprogram guide access device 24 and interactive television program guideequipment 17 may communicate, for example, using a protocol stack whichincludes Sequenced Packet Exchange/Internetwork Packet Exchange(SPX/IPX) layers, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) layers, Appletalk Transaction Protocol/Datagram DeliveryProtocol (ATP/DDP) layers, or any other suitable network and transportlayer protocols or combination of protocols.

Remote program guide access device 24 may communicate with interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 using any suitable scheme. Remoteprogram guide access device 24 may, for example, connect to interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 using a terminal emulation scheme,such as VT100 terminal emulation, and access the interactive televisionprogram guide as if it were a “dumb terminal.”Remote program guideaccess device 24 may, for example, run a standard remote access clientsuch as a Windows< Remote Access Services (RAS) client and may connectto a Windows NT< Server process running on interactive televisionprogram guide equipment 17. Any suitable combination of hardware andsoftware may be used. In addition to using any of the already mentionedprotocols, any number of other access, data-link, network, routing orother protocols may be involved in supporting communications betweenremote program guide access device 24 and television distributionfacility 16 over remote access link 19 (e.g., X.25, Frame Relay,Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Serial Line Interface (SLIP),point-to-point protocols (PPP), or any other suitable access, data-link,network, routing or other protocol).

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b show illustrative arrangements for supportingcommunications between remote program guide access device 24 andinteractive television program guide equipment 17 over an Internet link.Television distribution facility 16 may, for example, include Internetservice system 61 for providing Internet-based access to the programguide. Internet service system 61 may be any combination of hardware andsoftware capable of providing an Internet connection to the programmingguide. Remote program guide access device 24 may establish an Internetsession with Internet service system 61 and thereby obtain program guidedata from or set program guide settings with (e.g., set reminders ornotifications, view listings, schedule program recording, set favorites,set parental control features, send messages, poll interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17, etc.) the program guide runningon interactive program guide equipment 17. If desired, Internet servicesystem 61 may be located at a facility that is separate from televisiondistribution facility 16.

Program guide server 25 may, in turn, interact with the user's clientdevice (e.g., user television equipment 22). If the program guide isimplemented on user television equipment 22 of program guide equipment17 as shown in FIG. 6 a, Internet service system 61 (or other suitableequipment at television distribution facility 16 that is connected toInternet service system 61) may interact with user television equipment22 directly or via program guide distribution equipment 21 whensupporting communications between the program guide and the remoteprogram guide access device. If the program guide implemented oninteractive television program guide equipment 17 is a client-serverguide as shown in FIG. 6 b, Internet service system 61 may interact withprogram guide server 25 when supporting communications between theprogram guide and the remote program guide access device 24.Alternatively, Internet service system 61 and program guide server 25may be the same device or system.

In an illustrative system configuration using Internet service system61, remote program guide access device 24 is a user's personal computerat work, Internet service system 61 is a web server at a cable systemheadend, and user television equipment 22 at the user's home contains aset-top box on which the user's program guide is implemented. Using thisarrangement, the user may access features of the program guide such assetting reminders or notifications, viewing listings, program recording,setting favorites, parental control, sending messages, polling forstatus, or any other suitable function. For example, if a child in theuser's home desires permission to watch a parentally controlled programwhile the user is a at work, the user may access a suitable web pageprovided by Internet service system 61 that allows the user to enter apassword and adjust the program guide parental control settings. Thechanged settings allowing the child access to the desired program arethen automatically transferred from Internet service system 61 to usertelevision equipment 22, while the user is still at work.

As another example, the user at work may interact with the program guideon user television equipment 22 via Internet service system 61 to selectprograms for recording on the user's home videocassette recorder, or toschedule program reminders that will appear on the user's hometelevision or remote program guide access device just before a programis broadcast.

FIG. 6 c shows another illustrative arrangement for remote program guideaccess using the Internet. In the system arrangement of FIG. 6 c, usersdo not directly communicate a local guide via the Internet as with thearrangements of FIGS. 6 a and 6 b. Instead, users may have personalcomputer (PC) 231 as their remote access device on which a web browseris implemented for accessing an on-line program guide. On-line programguides are described, for example, in above-mentioned Boyer et al. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 08/938,028, filed Sep. 18, 1997. Personalcomputer 231 may be connected to Internet service system 235 viaInternet link 233. Internet service system 233 may use any suitablecombination of computer hardware and software capable of providing anon-line program guide server application or web site. The user mayaccess a personal web page and set various program guide settings andaccess various program guide functions. The user may, for example, setfavorite channels, set parental control settings, schedule programs forplay back or recording by the user's television equipment. After theuser has set various program guide settings or accessed various programguide functions via a web page, Internet service system 235 may providethe settings and another program guide information to Internet servicesystem 61 for distribution by program guide server 25 or distributionequipment 21 (as shown) to user television equipment 22. The local guideupdates its settings, records programs, plays back programs, or performsany other suitable function accordingly. The local guide may also orderpay-per-view programs.

A remote access interactive television program guide may, for example,be implemented on remote program guide access device 24. The remoteaccess interactive television program guide may communicate with theinteractive television program guide that is implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17, herein referred to as a “local”interactive television program guide. The remote access and local guidemay, for example, be the same guide but compiled to run on two differentplatforms and to communicate in a manner or manners discussed herein.Alternatively, the remote access guide may be a client guide thatcommunicates with the local guide (i.e., a server guide). In stillanother suitable approach, the two guides may be different guides thatcommunicate in a manner or manners discussed disclosed herein.Generally, although not necessarily (e.g., when remote program guideaccess device 24 is a personal computer as shown in FIG. 6 c), theremote access interactive television program guide may have a reduced orlimited functionality when compared to the functionality of the localinteractive television program guide. Accordingly, the remote accessguide may require less processing power and memory of remote programguide access device 24 than the local guide requires of interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17.

Program guide information (e.g., reminder information, listingsinformation, recording information, message information, statusinformation, parental control settings, audio and video, status orpolling information, user information, favorites settings, or any otherinformation necessary for remotely providing program guidefunctionality) may be exchanged, and settings set, between the twointeractive television program guides over remote access link 19 usingone or more access communications.

Access communications may include, for example, commands, requests,messages, remote procedure calls (e.g., using a proxy-stub pair), or anyother suitable client-server or peer-to-peer communication. Accesscommunications may also involve, for example, complex communicationsbetween application constructs running on remote program guide accessdevice 24 and interactive television program guide equipment 17. Objectsrunning in the two versions of the program guides, for example, maycommunicate using an Object Request Broker (ORB). The program guideinformation may, for example, be encapsulated as component object model(COM) objects and persisted to files that are transmitted over remoteaccess link 19. In another approach, access communications may includeHTML formatted markup language documents (e.g., web pages), that areexchanged between remote program guide access device 24 and interactivetelevision program guide equipment via Internet service system 61.

Program guide information may be transferred, and program guide settingsset, between remote program guide access device 24 and interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 using any suitable applicationlayer protocol if desired. If link is an Internet link, for example,program guide functionality may be accessed by, for example, using theHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Remote program guide access device24 and interactive television program guide equipment 17 may, forexample, transfer program guide information as files using the FileTransfer Protocol (FTP) or Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP),running over a TCP/IP protocol stack. Any suitable file transferprotocol based on any suitable protocol stack may be used.

Remote program guide access device 24 and interactive television programguide equipment 17 may also exchange program guide data and otherinformation as messages using any suitable messaging scheme or messagingapplication programming interface (API). Program guide data and otherinformation may, for example, be encapsulated into e-mail messages andtransferred using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), MessagingAPI (MAPI), or other suitable messaging protocol or API.

Remote program guide access device 24 and the interactive televisionprogram guide implemented on interactive program guide equipment 17 mayexchange access communications to provide the user with access toprogram guide functionality as if the program guide were running locallyon remote program guide access device 24. Remote program guide accessdevice 24 may provide a user with access to any number of program guidefunctions such as accessing programming information, schedulingreminders for programs, setting and navigating through favoritechannels, setting parental control settings, scheduling programmingrecordings, or any other program guide function to the extent allowed bythe resources of remote program guide access device 24. If desired,remote program guide access device 24 may allow the user to performother program guide functions, such as determining the status of usertelevision equipment 22, sending messages to user television equipment22, interacting with peripherals connected to user television equipment,and other suitable functions.

When the user wishes to access the features of the program guide viaremote program guide access device 24, the user may issue an appropriatecommand using user interface 52 (FIG. 5). For example, if the userwishes to view programming information, a “guide” key on user interface52 can be used. If, for example, user interface 52 includes a microphoneand uses suitable voice recognition software, the user may speak apredetermined command into the microphone. Such an interface isespecially useful in environments where remote program guide accessdevice 24 must be operated without the use of one's hands, as with anautomobile PC.

When possible, remote program guide access device 24 may present programguide data and other information to the user as they are normallypresented by user television equipment 22. In practice, appropriatedifferences in presentation may occur depending on the interface devicesused in user television equipment 22 and remote program guide accessdevice 24 (e.g., user television equipment 22 may use a television tooutput listings and remote program guide access device 24 may include avoice recognition and synthesis system to output synthesized voicelistings).

When a user indicates a desire to access program guide features byissuing an appropriate command to remote program guide access device 24,remote program guide access device 24 may, for example, access storedprogram guide information or obtain program guide information frominteractive television program guide equipment 17 via remote access link19 using any of the approaches already described, and generate anappropriate display screen for display using user interface 52.Alternatively, the local interactive television program guideimplemented on interactive television program guide equipment 17 mayreceive one or more access communications from remote program guideaccess device 24 over link 19, generate the appropriate program guidedisplay screen, and send the program guide display screen back to remoteprogram guide access device 24 for display on user interface 52. Inanother embodiment, a remote access guide may run on remote programguide access device 24 and issue access communications over remoteaccess link 19 as if it were running as a client locally on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17. In another embodiment, remoteprogram guide access device 24 may access a web site and view web pagesthat contain program guide information.

The remote access program guide running on remote program guide accessdevice 24 may provide a user with an opportunity to remotely accessprogram listings. A person driving an automobile, for example, may issuea suitable vocal command that is recognized by interface 52. The remoteaccess program guide may issue one or more access communications to thelocal program guide, which in turn supplies program listings informationback to remote program guide access device 24. User interface 52 may,for example, provide the listings to the user in synthesized voiceoutputs.

The program listings may also, for example, be displayed in a programlistings screen by a suitable display device. A program listings screenmay contain one or more lists of programs organized according to one ormore organization criteria (e.g., by program type, theme, or any otherpredefined or user defined and selectable criteria) and sorted invarious ways (e.g., alphabetically). One approach is to organize programlistings into a program listings grid. As shown in FIG. 7, programlistings display screen 148 may contain program listings area 168.Program listings area 168 may display television program listings in anysuitable format, such as any suitable list, table, or grid.

FIG. 7 illustrates the display of program listings in program listingsgrid 150. Program listings grid 150 may be divided into a number ofcolumns 162 which correspond to program broadcast times and which may beequally spaced apart (e.g., in thirty-minute steps). Program listingsmay be displayed in the grid in sub-sets according to predefined orselectable organization criteria and sorted in various ways. Programlistings row 152 contains, for example, selectable program listings forTHE DESERTS OF AFRICA and WILDLIFE on channel 46 (Public Television).Program listings row 154 contains, for example, selectable programlistings for GHOST and TITANIC on channel 47 (HBO). Program listings row156 contains, for example, selectable program listings for programsBLUES BROTHERS on channel 48 (VH-1). Program listing row 158 containsselectable program listings for programs, PPV 1, and PPV 2 on channel 49(ADU). Program listings row 160 contains a selectable program listingfor COOKING on channel (WPTU). The programs on each channel aretypically different.

Program listings grid 150 may have movable cell highlight region 151,which highlights the current grid cell. The user may position highlightregion 151 by entering appropriate commands with user interface 52. Forexample, if user input interface 52 has a keypad, the user can positionhighlight region 151 using “up,” “down,” “left,” and “right” cursorkeys. Remote program listings may also be panned left, right, up, anddown by positioning highlight region 151 using the cursor keys on userinterface 52. Alternatively, a touch sensitive screen, trackball, voicecommands, or other suitable device may be used to move highlight region151 or to select program listings without the use of highlight region151. In still another approach, the user may speak the title of atelevision program listing into a voice request recognition system whichwill issue an appropriate command or request to remote program guideaccess device 24. Any other suitable approach may also be used.

After a user selects a program listing, the remote access program guidemay provide the user with the opportunity to access a number of programguide features. For example, the user may access additional information(typically text or graphics, but possibly video if desired) about thelisting, schedule an associated program reminder, schedule an associatedprogram for recording by one or more of digital storage device 31 (FIG.3), secondary storage device 32 (FIG. 3), storage 56 (FIG. 5), orprogram guide server 25.

Program listings may also be displayed for the user in a list. FIG. 8illustrates a program listings display screen having a program listingslist displayed in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention. Scrollable program listings lists may display programlistings in subsets according to predefined or user-selectedorganization criteria. Any suitable organization criteria and sortingscheme may be used. Scrollable program listings list 170 of FIG. 8, forexample, organizes program listings according to program type and thensorts the listings alphabetically in each subset. The television programlistings display screen of FIG. 8 also has movable cell highlight region171 for moving within the list and selecting listings.

The remote access program guide may also provide a user with theopportunity to remotely schedule program reminders when the userindicates a desire to set a program reminder (e.g., by pressing a“reminder” button on user interface 52, selecting an on screen“reminder” button, issuing an appropriate vocal command, etc.). Theremote access program guide may transmit one or more accesscommunications to the local interactive television program guideimplemented on interactive television program guide equipment 17 toschedule the reminder. Alternatively, the remote access program guidemay, for example, store a reminder locally on storage 56 of remoteprogram guide access device 24 (FIG. 5). Information indicating the userwho set the reminder may also be stored on interactive program guideequipment 17 or storage 56. Reminders may also be scheduled by a userwith the local guide, transmitted to remote program guide access device24, and displayed by the remote access guide on remote program guideaccess device 24.

At an appropriate time before the selected program is scheduled to air(e.g., a predefined user-selectable number of minutes, hours or days), areminder may be issued by the local or remote interactive televisionprogram guides, or both. The reminder may be issued on all remoteprogram guide access devices 24 available to the user, and may bedisplayed (e.g., in the form of a pop-up window or message) on usertelevision equipment 22. If a reminder for a program is to be displayedon the user's home television, the reminder may be displayed just beforethe beginning of the program. If a reminder for a program is to bedisplayed on remote program guide access device 24, the reminder may bedisplayed much earlier (e.g., several hours before the program).

In another approach, reminders may be sent as e-mail messages from theinteractive television program guide to remote program guide accessdevice 24. Interactive program guide systems in which reminders are sentto users via e-mail are described, for example, in Boyer et al. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 08/987,740, filed Dec. 9, 1997, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In stillanother approach, user interface 52 may include an alphanumeric pager(among other suitable devices for providing bi-directionalcommunications with the program guide via remote access link 19). Theinteractive program guide implemented on interactive television programguide equipment 17 may phone an automatic paging service (e.g., by usinga suitable modem and communications software), and issue a messagesimilar to the one contained in notification 177. An illustrativereminder 177 for display on display device 45 (FIG. 4) or user interface52 (FIG. 5) is shown in FIG. 9.

The remote access program guide may also provide a user with theopportunity to remotely access and adjust the parental control settingsof the local interactive television program guide implemented oninteractive television program guide equipment 17. The remote accessprogram guide, for example, may provide users with an opportunity toblock potentially objectionable programs or channels using a parentalcontrol code (e.g., a personal identification number (PIN) code). Usersmy also selectively unlock blocked channels or programs. If desired, theuser may remotely access parental control settings related to blockingthe display of potentially objectionable program listings.

The remote access program guide may obtain parental control information(e.g., which channels, services, programs, genres or types of programlistings may be locked, maximum rating information, PIN information,etc.), from the local program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 over remote access link 19 in anysuitable manner. Remote program guide access device 24 may, if desired,store parental control information on storage 56. Information indicatingthe user who accessed and adjusted parental control settings may bestored by the program guide or remote program guide access device 24.

Remote program guide access device 24 may provide a user with theopportunity to remotely parentally control television programming by,for example, providing the user with the opportunity to select atelevision program listing and issue an appropriate command using userinterface 52 (e.g., by pressing a displayed “lock” button, using apointing device or touch sensitive screen, issuing an appropriate vocalcommand, etc.). Remote program guide access device 24 may indicate to auser that a channel, service, program, or genre is locked by, forexample, generating an appropriate notice, icon, synthesized voiceresponse, message, or any other suitable indication. FIGS. 7 and 8illustrate the use of lock icon 310 for indicating, for example, thattelevision service ADU is locked.

The remote access program guide may also provide users with anopportunity to remotely access interactive television program guidefunctionality related to user preferences or “favorites” settings. Forexample, remote program guide access device 24 may access features forsetting-up and navigating through favorite channels or programs.Interactive television program guide systems in which program guide datais displayed according to preference profiles are described, forexample, in Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/034,934,filed Mar. 4, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

The remote access program guide may obtain information on the user'spreferences (e.g., which channels or programs are favorites, favoritethemes, likes and dislikes etc.) from the local interactive televisionprogram guide implemented on interactive television program guideequipment 17 in any suitable manner. The remote access program guidemay, if desired, store favorites information on storage 56 (FIG. 5), mayprovide the user with an opportunity to remotely adjust channel settingsand other preferences based on the favorites information. Remote programguide access device 24 may transmit changed or new favorites informationto interactive television program equipment 17 via remote access link 19using one or more access communications. Information indicating the userwho changed the profiles may also be stored by the local or remoteaccess program guides.

The information on the user's preferences may be used by the local andremote access interactive program guides to navigate through favoritechannels and display television program listings. FIG. 10 shows anillustrative program listings display screen that may be displayed bythe remote access program guide on remote program guide access device 24using user interface 52. The display screen includes a number ofchannels that have been selected as favorites (e.g., channels 2, 4, 7,47 and 48). Alternatively, remote program guide access device 24 may,for example, display television program listings in a grid, table, orlist while highlighting favorite channels or preferred programs. A usermay be provided with the opportunity to “scroll” between favoritelistings or channels by issuing an appropriate command using userinterface 52. In still another suitable approach, remote program guideaccess device 24 may display program guide data for only those programsor channels that are of interest to users as defined by the profiles.

User preference profiles may also be used to limit the amount of dataprovided to remote program guide access device 24 and thereby tend tominimize the bandwidth requirements of remote access link 19. Datafiltering may be performed, for example, by the local interactive guideaccording to the user profiles when transferring data to remote programguide access device 24. Only data for those programs or channels thatare of interest to the user may be transferred if desired.Alternatively, data filtering may be performed, for example, by programguide server 25 or Internet service system 61.

The remote access program guide may also provide the user with theopportunity to remotely schedule recordings using the local interactiveprogram guide. The user may, for example, select a program listing usinguser interface 52 (FIG. 5) and issue an appropriate command (e.g.,pushing an on-screen “button,” issuing an appropriate voice command,etc.). The remote access program guide may respond by sending one ormore access communications to the local interactive program guideimplemented on interactive television program guide equipment 17 withthe remote program guide access device 24 to record the programassociated with the selected listing when the program is aired. Thelocal program guide may store the program on secondary storage device32, digital storage device 31, or on storage 56 of remote program guideaccess device 24. Information indicating the user who scheduled aprogram for recording may also be stored by the program guide or remoteprogram guide access device 24. If the programming is stored on storage56, it may be transmitted to remote program guide access device 24 inany suitable format (e.g., as National Television Standards Committee(NTSC) video, as MPEG-2 files, etc.), and may be converted to a digitalformat by a suitable analog to digital converter in remote program guideaccess device 24 if necessary (not shown). Any suitable transmissionscheme may be used, such as using FTP if files are transferred, forexample, across an Internet link. Programs may also be recorded byprogram guide server 25. Program guide systems in which user selectedprograms are stored by a program guide server are described, forexample, in above-mentioned Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999.

If desired, program series may be recorded. Interactive televisionprogram guide systems in which program series are recorded aredescribed, for example, in Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/330,792, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Program guide information may also be stored by the remote accessinteractive television program guide on storage 56. User settings andprofiles, video clips, and detailed descriptive information may also bestored. Storing programming or data on storage 56 may be appropriate insituations, for example, where the data is required to be maintainedacross a power outage, or if the volume of data that the interactiveprogram guide must store during normal operation is more thaninteractive television program guide equipment 17 can handle.

The remote access program guide may also provide a user with anopportunity to remotely order pay-per-view programs and packages. Theremote access program guide may, for example, provide the user with anopportunity to select a pay-per-view program or package listing usinguser interface 52 (e.g., by using a pointing device, touch sensitivescreen, or issuing a voice command to select a pay-per-view programlisting). In response to the user command, remote program guide accessdevice 24 may obtain pay-per-view information (e.g., price, orderinginformation, time, event code, etc.) from the interactive televisionprogram guide running on interactive television program guide equipment17, via remote access link 19. Alternatively, the pay-per-viewinformation may have been provided to remote program guide access device24 by the local guide, program guide server 25, or Internet Servicesystem 61.

The remote access program guide may provide the pay-per-view informationto the user using user interface 52, and may provide the user with theopportunity to order the pay-per-view selection. Once the user issues anappropriate command to remote program guide access device 24 to orderthe pay-per-view selection, the remote access guide on remote programguide access device 24 may indicate to the local guide implementedinteractive program guide equipment 17 (e.g., via one or more accesscommunications) the program that the user wishes to order. The localinteractive program guide may respond by ordering the pay-per-viewprogram from television distribution facilitating 16 or some otherdistribution facility. Alternatively, the remote access program guidemay order the pay-per-view program from television distribution facility16 (or some other distribution facility) and indicate the orderedpay-pay-view to the local guide so that ordering related functions maybe coordinated.

Remotely ordering pay-per-view programs via the local interactive guideas opposed to ordering pay-per-view programs directly from a headend byphone, Internet, or impulse ordering using the remote access guide mayallow the local program guide to perform functions that it would notordinarily be able to perform. Ordering a pay-per-view through the localguide as opposed to directly from television distribution facility 16may allow the local guide to, for example, parentally control theordering of a program, inform the user that the program is about tostart, inform the user that the user has missed an ordered pay-per-viewprogram, provide the user with an opportunity to reorder the program, orany other suitable function associated with ordering a pay-per-viewprogram.

The remote access program guide may also provide the user with anopportunity to remotely access video and audio (either together orseparately) that is being distributed to the local interactivetelevision program guide or which has been stored by the localinteractive television program guide on user television equipment 22 orat a remote server. In response to an appropriate user command on userinterface device 56, the remote access program guide may, for example,query the interactive television program guide for media directoryinformation stored on digital storage device 31 or secondary storagedevice 32. Interactive television program guides which store programmingusing a digital media directory are described, for example, in thepreviously mentioned Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/157,256.

The remote access program guide may provide the user with theopportunity to select a directory entry or may, for example, provide theuser with an opportunity to select a program listing of a televisionprogram that is being broadcast. In response to either selection, theremote access program guide may issue an appropriate accesscommunication to the interactive television program guide to play backor tune to the selection and transmit it back to remote program guideaccess device 24 over remote access link 19. Remote program guide accessdevice 24 may play the video or audio for the user. In one approach, forexample, remote program guide access device 24 may provide a user withthe opportunity to access audio from a digital music channel which isreceived by interactive television program guide equipment 17, and playthe audio on a speaker or by using an audio device that may be containedin user interface 52 (e.g., a car stereo).

Video and audio may be transmitted from interactive television programguide equipment 17 to remote program guide access device 24 over remoteaccess link 19 in any suitable format (e.g., as NTSC video, as MPEG-2files, using the M-bone, etc.), and may be converted to a digital formatif necessary by a suitable analog to digital converter in remote programguide access device 24 (not shown). Any suitable transmission scheme maybe used.

The remote access program guide may also provide a user with theopportunity to poll the local interactive television program guide todetermine the status of interactive television program guide equipment17 or, more specifically, user television equipment 22. For example, theremote access program guide may obtain information regarding whether theinteractive television program guide is in use, what channel usertelevision equipment 22 is tuned to, the title of the current program,the rating of the current program, the status of remote access link 19,available devices, etc. Any suitable scheme may be used, such as using aSimple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) approach in which a managementclient process runs as part of the interactive television program guideimplemented on interactive television program guide equipment 17, and inwhich a management server process runs on remote program guide accessdevice 24.

When the user issues an appropriate command using user interface device56 (e.g., by pressing a button on a key pad, selecting an on-screenoption or button, issuing an appropriate voice command, etc.), theremote access program guide may respond by issuing an accesscommunication to the interactive program guide over remote access link19 using remote program guide access device 24. The interactive programguide may respond by transmitting the desired status information back toremote program guide access device 24 over remote access link 19, or bytransmitting a display screen (if appropriate). The remote accessprogram guide may indicate the status of interactive television programguide equipment 17 on remote program guide access device 24 using anysuitable indicator (e.g., a display screen, synthesized voice responses,etc.). An illustrative status display screen 200 for display using userinterface 52 is shown in FIG. 11.

The remote access program guide may also provide a user with anopportunity to control user television equipment 22 remotely. A usermay, for example, position highlight region 201 over a setting, selectthe setting, and change its value. The user may, for example, change thecurrent channel, the current volume, or control user televisionequipment 22 in any other suitable manner.

The remote access program guide may also provide a user with theopportunity to send audio, graphical, and text messages to the localinteractive program guide for playing or display by user televisionequipment 22. For example, the remote access program guide may receive avoice message from the user using user interface device 24. That voicemessage may be converted to a digital signal by an analog-to-digitalconverter in remote program guide access device 24 if necessary, andsent to the interactive television program guide over remote access link19. Once received, the local interactive television program guide mayplay (or display) the message on user television equipment 22. Ifdesired, messages created by a user on the local interactive televisionprogram guide or by an operator of television distribution facility 16may be sent to remote program guide access device 24. The remote accessprogram guide may in turn provide the messages to the user using remoteprogram guide access device 24.

FIGS. 12-24 are illustrative flow charts of steps involved in providingremote access to functions of a local interactive television programguide in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Thesteps shown in FIGS. 12-24 are illustrative and may be performed in anysuitable order. Moreover, in practice it may be desirable to combine ordelete various steps or combinations of steps shown in the flow charts.

FIG. 12 shows illustrative steps involved in providing remote access tothe various program guide functions. At step 1200, a remote access linkis established between the remote access program guide implemented onremote program guide access device 24 and the interactive televisionprogram guide implemented on interactive television program guideequipment 17 using remote access link 19. At step 1210, the remoteaccess program guide provides the user with the opportunity to remotelyaccess functions of the interactive program guide over the remote accesslink.

The remote access program guide may, for example, obtain a user commandfrom the user that indicates a desired program guide function usingremote program guide access device 24 (substep 1265) and then remotelyprovide the indicated program guide function to the user. A user mayindicate a desired function by entering an appropriate command usinguser interface 52. The user may, for example, enter a command using akeyboard, speak a command into a microphone, select an on-screen buttonusing a pointing device, or any other suitable approach.

The indicated program guide function may be remotely provided to theuser audibly (substep 1270) using, for example, a speaker, car stereo,or other device capable of producing sounds that suitably indicate tothe user program guide information. Alternatively, the indicated programguide function may be remotely provided to the user visually (at substep1280), for example, by using a monitor, LCD, or other display device.

Establishing the remote access link between the remote access programguide and the local interactive television program guide implemented oninteractive television program guide equipment 17 as indicated by step1200 and providing the user with an opportunity to remotely accessfunctions of the local interactive television program guide over remoteaccess link 19 (step 1210) may depend on the configuration of theinteractive television program guide system. FIGS. 13 a-13 e showillustrative variations of steps 1200 and 1210 of FIG. 12 forestablishing remote access link 19 and for providing the user withremote access to program guide functions for the illustrative systems 10of FIGS. 2 a-2 d and FIGS. 6 a-6 c.

FIG. 13 a illustrates steps involved in establishing remote access link19 and for providing the user with remote access to program guidefunctions in the systems of FIGS. 2 a and 2 c. In these systems, remoteaccess link 19 may be established between the remote access programguide and the interactive television program guide via a communicationsdevice in user television equipment 22 (Step 1200 a). The localinteractive television program guide may be wholly implemented on usertelevision 22 as in system 10 of FIG. 2 a, or may be partiallyimplemented on user television equipment 22 as, for example, aninteractive program guide client, as in system 10 of FIG. 2 c. At step1210 a, remote program guide access device 24 may provide the user withthe opportunity to remotely access the functions of the localinteractive television program guide over the remote access link with acommunications device.

Remote access link 19 may be established between the remote accessprogram guide and the interactive television program guide via remoteprogram guide access device 24 and a communications device in televisiondistribution facility 16 or other location for a system configured asshown in FIG. 2 d. Providing remote access to the functions of the localinteractive television program guide in such a system may, for example,involve the steps shown in FIG. 13 b. At step 1200 b, for example,remote access link 19 may be established with a communications device intelevision distribution facility 16. The remote access program guidemay, for example, provide the user with the opportunity to remotelyaccess functions of the program guide with a communications device inthe television distribution facility 16 at step 1210 b.

If television distribution facility 16 includes a program guide serveras shown in FIG. 2 c, remote access link 19 may be established betweenthe remote access program guide and the interactive television programguide via remote program guide access device 24 and a communicationsdevice in television distribution facility 16 as indicated by step 1200c of FIG. 13 c. At step 1210 c remote program guide access device 24may, for example, provide the user with the opportunity to remotelyaccess the functions of the program guide over remote access link 19with a communications device in distribution facility 16.

Steps involved in establishing remote access link 19 in on-line programguide systems that communicate with the remote access program guide suchas in systems 10 of FIGS. 6 a and 6 b are shown in FIGS. 13 d and 13 e.In the on-line program guide system of FIG. 6 a, for example, remoteaccess link 19 may be established between the local interactivetelevision program guide and the remote access program guide withInternet service system 61 (step 1200 d, FIG. 13 d). In theclient-server on-line program guide system of FIG. 6 b, for example,remote access link 19 may be established between the local interactivetelevision program guide and the remote access program guide with anInternet service system in contact with program guide server 25 (step1200 e, FIG. 13 e). The remote access program guide may provide the userwith the opportunity to remotely access the functions of the programguide at steps 1210 d and 1210 e of FIGS. 13 d and 13 e, respectively.

Establishing remote access link 19 at step 1200 of FIG. 12 may alsoinvolve exchanging one or more access communications between theinteractive television program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 and the remote access programguide implemented on remote program guide access device 24, as indicatedby substep 1202 of FIG. 14. Access communicators may include anyclient-server or peer-to-peer communication construct suitable forproviding program guide information across remote access link 19. Accesscommunications may include, for example, requests, commands, messages,or remote procedure calls, as indicated by substeps 1204, 1205, 1206,and 1207, respectively.

Access communications may also involve complex communications betweenapplication constructs running on remote program guide access device 24and interactive television program guide equipment 17. Accesscommunications may, for example, be object based, as indicated bysubstep 1208. Objects running in two program guides, for example, maycommunicate using an Object Request Broker (ORB). The program guideinformation may, for example, be encapsulated as component object model(COM) objects and persisted to files that are transmitted over remoteaccess link 19. Access communications may also include, for example,HTML formatted markup language documents (e.g., Web pages), that areexchanged between remote program guide access device 24 and interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 via Internet service system 61, asindicated by substep 1209.

FIGS. 15-23 are flowcharts of illustrative steps involved in providingremote access to a number of specific program guide functions. Remoteaccess to the functions may be provided in any interactive televisionprogram guide system, such as a system 10 having the arrangements ofinteractive television program guide equipment 17 shown in FIGS. 2 a-2 dand FIGS. 6 a and 6 b. The steps shown in FIGS. 12-14 are not shown inthe flowcharts of FIGS. 15-23 to avoid over-complicating the drawings,although any suitable combination or combinations of the steps of theflowcharts of FIGS. 12-23 may be used in practice.

FIG. 15 shows illustrative steps involved in remotely providing programlistings information to a user. At step 1600, program listingsinformation is remotely obtained from the local interactive televisionprogram guide implemented on interactive television program guideequipment 17 via remote access link 19. The remote access program guidemay, for example, obtain this information on startup, periodically,continuously, on demand in response to a suitable user command, or usingany other suitable scheme using remote program guide access device 24.

At step 1610, the program listings information may be provided to theuser. The program listings information may be displayed for the user bythe remote access program guide in a table, listing grid, or othersuitable construct, using user interface 52 (substep 1620).Alternatively, program listings information may be provided audibly forthe user by using, for example, a speaker (substep 1630).

At step 1640, the remote access program guide may provide the user withthe opportunity to select a program listing. In response to such aselection, the remote access program guide may provide the user with theopportunity to access other remote program guide features for thelisting (e.g., displays additional info, schedule a program reminder,record, parental control, order the program if it is a pay-per-viewprogram, etc.).

FIG. 16 shows illustrative steps involved in providing the user withremote access to the program reminder feature of a local interactivetelevision program guide. At step 1700, a user is provided with anopportunity to schedule a programming reminder. The user may be providedwith an opportunity to remotely schedule a programming reminder with thelocal guide or with the remote access guide. This opportunity, may, forexample, be provided in response to the user selection of a programlisting. At step 1710, the program reminder is scheduled by the localguide or the remote access guide. The program reminder may be scheduledwith the local interactive television program guide (substep 1720), maybe stored by the remote access interactive television program guide(substep 1730), or both.

At step 1740, the program reminder is generated at an appropriate time(e.g., a predefined or user-selectable number of minutes, hours, ordays) before a program is scheduled to air. The reminder may begenerated by the local interactive television program guide implementedon interactive television program guide equipment 17, or may begenerated by the remote interactive television program guide. Theprogram reminder may, for example, be sent to the user via e-mail oralphanumeric page, as indicated by substeps 1750 and 1760 respectively.

FIG. 17 shows illustrative steps involved in providing a user withremote access to the parental control features of the local interactivetelevision program guide implemented on interactive television programguide equipment 17. At step 1800, parental control information isremotely obtained. This may occur, for example, on startup,periodically, continuously, on demand in response to a suitable usercommand, or using any other suitable scheme.

The remote access program guide may provide the user with theopportunity to parentally control programming (e.g., by program,channel, theme, time, etc.) in any suitable manner (step 1810). At step1820, the remote access program guide remotely sets a parental controlsetting with the interactive television program guide via remote accesslink 19. Remote program guide access device 24 may use, for example, oneor more access communications sent over remote access link 19 toexchange the parental control settings with interactive televisionprogram guide 17.

Programming may be locked locally by a user via user televisionequipment 22, or may have been locked remotely by the remote accessprogram guide. The remote access program guide may indicate to a userthat programming is locked (e.g., by program, channel, theme, etc.) withremote program guide access device 24 at step 1830. Remote program guideaccess device 24 may use, for example, a notice, icon, synthesized voiceoutput, message, or any other suitable indicator.

FIG. 18 shows illustrative steps involved in providing a user withremote access to the favorites and user profile functions of theinteractive television program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17. At step 1900, user preferenceprofiles are remotely obtained from the local interactive televisionprogram guide by the remote access interactive television program guidevia remote access link 19. The information or profiles may be obtained,for example, on startup, periodically, continuously, on demand inresponse to a suitable user command, or using any other suitable scheme.

The remote access program guide may provide the user with theopportunity remotely adjust user profiles (step 1910). The user may, forexample, add or delete favorite channels, themes, indicate likes ordislikes, etc. At step 1920, the remote access program guide remotelyadjusts user profiles with the local interactive television programguide. This may be accomplished by, for example, remote program accessdevice 24 exchanging one or more access communications with interactivetelevision guide equipment 17 via remote access link 19. The one or moreaccess communications may indicate one or more user profiles orfavorites information. At step 1925, the remote program guide obtainsprogram guide data according to the preference profiles.

At step 1930, remote program guide access device 24 may provide the userwith the opportunity to remotely navigate through favorites. Remoteprogram guide access device 24 may, for example, have obtained programlistings information (step 1600, FIG. 15), sorted the informationaccording to the favorites information, and displayed only listings fora favorite channel or theme. Alternatively, remote program guide accessdevice 24 may, for example, display television program listings in agrid, table, or list while highlighting favorite channels. A user may beprovided with the opportunity to “jump” between favorite listings orchannels by issuing an appropriate command using user interface 52.

FIG. 19 shows illustrative steps involved in providing a user withremote access to program recording. At step 2000, the remote accessprogram guide provides the user with the opportunity to select a programfor recording. This opportunity may be provided in response to the userindicating a desire to record programming by, for example, selecting aprogram listing (step 1640, FIG. 15) and issuing a suitable command. Inresponse, the remote access program guide remotely schedules the programfor recording with the local interactive television program guideimplemented on interactive television program guide equipment 17 (step2000). Remote program guide access device 24 may exchange, for example,one or more access communications with interactive television programguide equipment 17 that are sent over remote access link 19.

At an appropriate time, the program is recorded (step 2020). Asindicated by substeps 2030 and 2040, the program may be recorded by thelocal interactive program guide on interactive television program guideequipment 17 (e.g., digital storage device 31 or secondary storagedevice 32 of user television equipment 22 (FIG. 3), or on program guideserver 25, or may be recorded, by remote program guide access device 24on storage 56 (FIG. 5) or program guide server 25. If the program isrecorded by remote program guide access device 24, the programming may,for example, be digitized and transmitted as a MPEG-2 data stream overremote access link 19 using access communications.

FIG. 20 shows illustrative steps involved in providing the user withremote access to remotely order pay-per-view programs and packages usingthe local interactive television program guide implemented oninteractive television program guide equipment 17. At step 2100, theremote access program guide obtains pay-per-view information (e.g.,price, ordering information, time, event code, selections in a package,etc.), from the interactive program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 via remote access link 19. Thepay-per-view information may be obtained on startup, periodically,continuously, on demand in response to a suitable user command, or usingany other suitable scheme. The pay-per-view information is provided tothe user by the remote access program guide using user interface 52 ofremote program guide access device 24 in any suitable fashion (step2110).

At step 2120, the remote access program guide provides the user with theopportunity to remotely order a pay-per-view program or package. Thisopportunity may be provided, for example, in response to the userselecting a pay-per-view program listing or package listing (e.g., step1640, FIG. 15). At step 2130, the remote access program guide remotelyorders the pay-per-view program or package by indicating the program orpackage to the local interactive television program guide by, forexample, exchanging one or more access communications over remote accesslink 19 (step 2133). The access communications may contain thepay-per-view information for the selected pay-per-view program orpackage. The local guide may order the program or package at step 2135.Alternately, the remote access program guide may order the pay-per-viewprogram (step 2137).

The way in which the remote access program guide orders the pay-per-viewprogram using the local interactive television program guide may dependon the configuration of the system. If the system is configured as shownin FIGS. 2 a and 2 c, the remote access program guide may, for example,provide the pay-per-view information to the interactive televisionprogram guide implemented at least partially on user televisionequipment 22. The interactive television program guide may, in turn,order the pay-per-view program with television distribution facility 16.If the system is configured as shown in FIGS. 2 b and 2 d, the remoteaccess program guide may, for example, provide the pay-per-viewinformation to the interactive television program guide via separatecommunications device 27. If the system is configured as shown in FIGS.6 a and 6 b, the remote access program guide may provide thepay-per-view information via Internet service system 61.

FIG. 21 shows illustrative steps involved in providing a user withaccess to remotely-played video or audio. At step 2200, the remoteaccess program guide may obtain video or audio information from theinteractive television program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 via remote access link 19. Thismay occur, for example, in response to the user selecting a video oraudio listing displayed by remote program guide access device 24.

Substeps 2210 and 2220 show illustrative steps involved in obtainingdirectory information used in providing a user with audio and videoinformation. The remote access program guide may query the localinteractive television program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 for directory information usingone or more access communications that are sent over remote access link19 (step 2210). The directory information may be contained, for example,in a media library directory for a media library that is stored on usertelevision equipment 22, or by television distribution facility 16. Thedirectory information may be provided back to the remote access programguide by exchanging one or more remote access communications betweeninteractive television program guide equipment 17 and remote programguide access device 24 over remote access link 19, as is indicated bysubstep 2220. Step 2210 may be skipped and step 2220 performed when, forexample, directory information or listings are provided to the remoteaccess guide ahead of time.

At step 2230, the remote access program guide may provide the user withthe opportunity to select a video or audio for remote playing. The usermay select a video or audio by, for example, selecting a listing that isindicated to the user by user interface 52. The user may be providedwith an opportunity to play a program in real-time via the local andremote guides, or to play a stored program. In response, the remoteaccess program guide may obtain the selected video or audio from thelocal interactive television program guide using access communicationsthat are sent over remote access link 19. The access communications maycontain the video or audio in a suitable analog or digital format. Atstep 2250, remote program guide access device 24 remotely plays thevideo or audio for the user using user interface 52. Selected video maybe displayed, for example, on a suitable monitor, LCD, or other suitabledisplay device. Selected audio may be played for the user using anysuitable speaker. Audio may, for example, be played by a car stereo ifremote program guide access device 24 is an automobile PC.

FIG. 22 shows illustrative steps involved in providing the user with theopportunity to remotely poll the local interactive television programguide implemented on interactive television program guide equipment 17.At step 2300, the remote access program guide may poll the interactivetelevision program guide for polling information. The pollinginformation may indicate, for example, whether user television equipment22 is in use, the current channel user television equipment 22 is tunedto, the current programming rating, current program title, the status ofremote access link 19 or communications paths 20, the available devicesof user television equipment 22, or any other status relatedinformation.

Step 2300 may include substeps 2310 and 2320 for obtaining the pollinginformation. At substep 2310, remote program guide access device 24 mayobtain the polling information. Polling information may be obtained onstartup, periodically, continuously, on demand in response to a suitableuser command, or using any other suitable scheme. More particularly,status information may be obtained using SNMP (substep 2320), ifdesired. If SNMP is used to obtain polling information, for example, theaccess communications may include commands and protocol data units(PDUs). Other suitable network management protocols may also be used. Atstep 2330, remote program guide access device 24 may present the pollinginformation to the user in any suitable method. The polling informationmay be displayed, for example, in a status display screen such as statusdisplay screen 200 of FIG. 11. Polling information may, for example, beoutput to the user via synthesized voice outputs that are played using aspeaker and voice synthesis hardware and software.

FIG. 23 shows illustrative steps involved in providing the user with theopportunity to create messages and send them between the localinteractive television program guide implemented on interactivetelevision program guide equipment 17 and the remote access programguide. At step 2400, the user is provided with the opportunity to createa message. The user may create the message with the local interactivetelevision program guide using, for example, user interface 46 of usertelevision equipment 22 (FIG. 4), or the user may create the messageusing user interface 52 of remote program guide access device 24.

The message may include any suitable text, graphics, or audio. The usermay, for example, speak an audio message into a microphone. The audiomessage may be digitized and stored in an access communication fortransfer over remote access link 19. Alternatively, the user may input atext message using a suitable text input device (e.g., a keyboard).However the message is created and whatever its content, the message istransferred over remote access link 19 using one or more accesscommunications. The message may be transferred from the interactivetelevision program guide to the remote access program guide, or from theremote access program guide to the local interactive television programguide, depending on where the message was created and its intendeddestination. At step 2410, the message may be presented to the user byuser television equipment 22 (e.g., substep 2430), or by remote programguide access device 24 (e.g., substep 2440).

The discussion thus far has focused on implementing the invention withan interactive television program guide. The invention may also beapplied to non-program-guide interactive television applications. Localnon-program-guide applications run on user television equipment such asa set-top box and corresponding remote access non-program-guideapplication may run on a remote access device. Interactive televisionapplications may be stand-alone applications, portions of an operatingsystem, or any suitable combination thereof.

One non-program-guide application that may be implemented on a set-topbox in accordance with the present invention is an Internet browser. AnInternet browser may have settings such as bookmarks, parental controlsettings, and general preferences that control how the browserfunctions. As shown in FIG. 24, a remote access device may provide theuser with access to a browser application by displaying, for example,browser screen 700 of a remote access browser application. Browserscreen 799 may have a bookmark option 705. A user may, for example,select bookmark option 705 and add a bookmark (i.e., a record of theaddress of the current web site that can be used to access the site).After the user adds a bookmark with a remote access Internet browser,the remote access Internet browser may exchange one or more accesscommunications with a local Internet browser to add the bookmark to thelocal browser.

Another application that may be implemented or a set-top box inaccordance with the present invention is a shopping application. Ashopping application may have settings such as a default shippingaddress and credit card number. As shown in FIG. 25, a remote accessshopping application screen 730 may have settings such as a shippingaddress 720, and credit card number 725. A user may, for example, add ashipping address and credit card information. After a user adds shippingand credit card information with the remote access shopping application,the remote access application may exchange one or more accesscommunications with a local shopping application to provide theinformation to the local application.

Another non-program-guide application that may be implemented on aset-top box and accessed via a remote access device in accordance withthe present invention is a stock ticker. A stock ticker may havesettings such as settings indicating the top ten stocks in which theuser is interested. As shown in FIG. 26, a remote access device maydisplay a remote access stock ticker settings screen 710. Stock tickersettings screen 710 may have, for example, ticker symbol 712 and a topten stocks option 715. A user may, for example, add a top stock. Byexchanging one or more access communications, the remote access stockticker application can make the top ten stock settings effective on alocal stock ticker application.

A chat application may be implemented on a set top box. Chatapplications are services that allow users to exchange chat messageswith other users in real time. A chat application may be implemented asa stand-alone chat application or as part of another application such asa program guide application. Chat applications that may be implementedon user television equipment are described in DeWeese et al. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/356,270, filed Jul. 16, 1999, filed concurrentlyherewith (Attorney Docket No. UV-101), which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. A user may remotely adjust settingsassociated with a chat application such as the size of a chat window, anaddress book, or whether to filter potentially offensive messages. Afterthe user adjusts chat settings with a remote access chat applicationrunning on a remote access device, the remote access chat applicationmay remotely adjust the settings of a local chat application by, forexample, exchanging one or more access communications with the localchat application over a remote access link.

If desired, the settings of an e-mail application running on a set-topbox may be adjusted remotely. Set-top based messaging systems aredescribed, for example, in concurrently filed McKissick et al. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/356,245, filed Jul. 16, 1999 (AttorneyDocket No. UV-128), which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety. Users may, for example, remotely add to or change anaddress book. When the user adjusts e-mail settings with a remote accesse-mail application running on a remote access device, the remote accesse-mail application may remotely adjust the settings of a local e-mailapplication by, for example, exchanging one or more accesscommunications with the local e-mail application over a remote accesslink.

An illustrative program guide system 230 in accordance with the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 27. Main facility 232 contains a programguide database 234 for storing program guide information such astelevision program guide program listings data, pay-per-view orderinginformation, television program promotional information, etc.Information from database 234 may be transmitted to multiple televisiondistribution facilities such as television distribution facility 238 viacommunications links such as communications link 240. Only one suchtelevision distribution facility 238 and one communications link 240 areshown in FIG. 27 to avoid over-complicating the drawings. Link 240 maybe a satellite link, a telephone network link, a cable or fiber opticlink, a microwave link, a combination of such links, or any othersuitable communications path. If it is desired to transmit video signals(e.g., for advertising and promotional videos) over link 240 in additionto data signals, a relatively high bandwidth link such as a satellitelink is generally preferable to a relatively low bandwidth link such asa telephone line.

Television distribution facility 238 is a facility for distributingtelevision signals to users, such as a cable system headend, a broadcastdistribution facility, or a satellite television distribution facilityor the like.

The program guide information transmitted by main facility 232 totelevision distribution facility 238 includes television programlistings data such as program times, channels, titles, descriptions,etc. Transmitted program guide information may also include pay programdata such as pricing information for individual programs andsubscription channels, time windows for ordering programs and channels,telephone numbers for placing orders that cannot be impulse ordered,etc. If desired, some of the program guide and advertising informationmay be provided using data sources at facilities other than mainfacility 232. For example, data related to pay program order processing(e.g., billing data and the like) may be generated by an orderprocessing and billing system that is separate from main facility 232and separate from television distribution facility 238. Similarly,advertising information may be generated by an advertising facility thatis separate from main facility 232 and television distribution facility238.

A server 242 may be provided in television distribution facility 238 forhandling data distribution tasks and for storing local information. Ifdesired, server 242 may be used to implement a client-server basedinteractive television program guide system. In such a system, clientfunctions may be performed at user television equipment 244. Server 242may be capable of handling text, graphics, and video.

Television distribution facility 238 distributes program guide andadvertising information to the user television equipment 244 of multipleusers via communications paths 246. Program guide data and otherinformation may be distributed over an out-of-band channel on paths 246or using any other suitable distribution technique.

Each user has a receiver, which is typically a set-top box such asset-top box 248, but which may be other suitable television equipmentinto which circuitry similar to set-top-box circuitry has beenintegrated. If desired, user television equipment 244 may be an advancedtelevision receiver or a personal computer television (PC/TV). Forpurposes of illustration, the present invention will generally bedescribed in connection with user television equipment based on aset-top box arrangement. Program guide data may be distributed toset-top boxes 248 periodically and stored or may be distributedcontinuously and handled “on the fly.”, or by request. Televisiondistribution facility 238 may poll set-top boxes 248 periodically forcertain information (e.g., pay program account information orinformation regarding programs that have been purchased and viewed usinglocally-generated authorization techniques). Main facility 232preferably contains a processor to handle information distributiontasks. Each set-top box 248 preferably contains a processor to handletasks associated with implementing a program guide application on theset-top box 248. Television distribution facility 238 may contain aprocessor for tasks associated with implementing server 242 and forhandling tasks associated with the distribution of program guide andother information.

Each set-top box 248 is may connected to an optional videocassetterecorder 250 or other suitable recording device (e.g., digital storagedevice) so that selected television programs may be recorded. Eachvideocassette recorder 250 may be connected to a television 252. Torecord a program, set-top box 248 tunes to a particular channel andsends control signals to videocassette recorder 250 (e.g., using aninfrared transmitter) that direct videocassette recorder 250 to startand stop recording at the appropriate times.

During use of the interactive television program guide implemented onset-top box 248, television program listings may be displayed ontelevision 252. Each set-top box 248, videocassette recorder 250, andtelevision 252 may be controlled by one or more remote controls 254 orany other suitable user input interface such as a wireless keyboard,mouse, trackball, dedicated set of buttons, etc.

Communications paths 246 preferably have sufficient bandwidth to allowtelevision distribution facility 238 to distribute scheduled televisionprogramming, pay programming, advertising and other promotional videos,and other video information to set-top boxes 244 in addition tonon-video program guide data. Multiple television and audio channels(analog, digital, or both analog and digital) may be provided to set-topboxes 248 via communications paths 246. If desired, program listings andother information may be distributed by one or more distributionfacilities that are similar to but separate from television distributionfacility 238 using communications paths that are separate fromcommunications paths 246.

Certain functions such as pay program purchasing may require set-topboxes 248 to transmit data to television distribution facility 238 overcommunications paths 246. If desired, such data may be transmitted overtelephone lines or other separate communications paths. If functionssuch as these are provided using facilities separate from televisiondistribution facility 238, some of the communications involving set-topboxes 248 may be made directly with the separate facilities.

The present invention involves the distribution of user program guidesettings to multiple program guide locations within a household. Such ahousehold may contain multiple pieces of user television equipment. Aprogram guide may be implemented on each piece of user televisionequipment. An illustrative process for distributing such settings isshown in FIG. 28. At step 500, a first program guide provides the userwith an opportunity to adjust program guide settings (e.g., programguide settings for user profiles, favorites, parental controls,reminders, recording options, pay-per-view options, message options, orother setup functions). At step 510, the system coordinates theoperation of the multiple interactive television program guides so thatthe program guide settings that were adjusted with the first interactivetelevision program guide are effective on a second interactivetelevision program guide and may be used by that second interactivetelevision program guide.

The steps of FIG. 28 are preferably performed using program guides asthe program guides implemented on set-top boxes 248 of FIG. 27. Certainprogram guide functions (particularly the display of graphics or videos)may involve the use of resources located at main facility 232 andtelevision distribution facility 238 and other such facilities. Ifdesired, some of the steps of FIG. 28 may be performed using anapplication running on set-top boxes 248 other than the interactiveprogram guide. For clarity, the principles of the invention aredescribed in the context of an arrangement in which the set-top-basedsteps of FIG. 28 are performed primarily using an interactive televisionprogram guide.

FIGS. 29, 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, 31, and 32 show various illustrativetopologies for configuring multiple program guides within a household.

FIG. 29 shows an illustrative arrangement for interconnecting varioususer television equipment devices in accordance with the presentinvention. Primary user television equipment 260 may be connected tosecondary user television equipment 261, secondary user televisionequipment 262, and secondary user television equipment 263 viacommunication paths 264. Communications paths 264 may be any suitablecommunications path for in-home network, such as twisted pair lines,Ethernet links, fiber optics, power lines, radio-frequency (RF) links,infrared (IR) and links other wireless links, firewire (IEEE 1394)paths, dedicated cables, etc. As shown, one or more pieces of secondaryuser television equipment may be connected to primary user televisionequipment 260 in a star configuration if desired. User televisionequipment devices are typically located in different rooms within home265. For example, primary user television equipment 260 may be placed inthe parents' bedroom, secondary user television equipment 261 may beplaced in the children's room, secondary user television equipment 262may be placed in a living room, and secondary user television equipment263 may be placed in a guest room. With such an arrangement, theparents' bedroom may be used as a master location to adjust usersettings for the program guides on the user television equipment in thechildren's room and the other rooms.

FIG. 30 a shows an illustrative tree configuration in which each pieceof user television equipment is interconnected with another along asingle path. User television equipment 66, 67, 68, and 69 of FIGS. 30 a,30 b and 30 c are connected to each of the others via communicationspaths 70. Communications paths 70 may be any suitable communicationspath for in-home network, such as twisted pair lines, Ethernet links,fiber optics, power lines, radio-frequency (RF) links, infrared (IR) andlinks other wireless links, firewire (IEEE 1394) paths, dedicatedcables, etc. Two or more pieces of user television equipment may beconnected in this way. The equipment mentioned above may be placed invarious rooms within home 265. For example, user television equipment 66may be placed in a parents' bedroom, user television equipment 67 may beplaced in a children's room, user television equipment 68 may be placedin a living room, user television equipment 69 may be placed in a guestroom. With the arrangement of FIG. 30 a, each piece of user televisionequipment in home 265 may communicate with each other piece of usertelevision equipment in home 265 over communications paths 70. FIG. 30 ashows the system connected in a tree topology. If desired, this level ofinterconnectivity may be achieved using communications paths that arearranged in a ring configuration (FIG. 30 b), bus configuration (FIG. 30c) or other suitable topology. Any of these topologies may use the typesof communications paths described in connection with the arrangement ofFIG. 30 a.

FIG. 31 shows an illustrative configuration based on a client-serverarchitecture. Server 80 may be connected to user television equipment81, 82, and 83 via communication paths 85. Equipment 81, 82, and 83 andserver 80 may be placed in various rooms within home 265. For example,server 80 may be placed in a den, user television equipment 81 may beplaced in a children's room, user television equipment may be placed ina living room, user television equipment 83 may be placed in a parents'room. Communication paths 85 may be any in-home network suitable totransmit video, audio and data, such as dedicated cable fiber optics,firewire links, RF links, etc. As, in the examples of FIGS. 30 a, 30 b,and 30 c, different communications path arrangements such as buses,rings and the like, may be used to interconnect user televisionequipment based on a client-server architecture.

FIG. 32 shows an illustrative configuration based on a single set-topbox. Set-top box 90 is connected to optional videocassette recorders 91and televisions 94, 96, and 98 via communication paths 99. Optionalvideocassette recorder 91 is in turn connected to televisions 92. Ifdesired, any combination of televisions with or without videocassetterecorders and televisions may be connected in a similar manner. Theset-top box, videocassette recorders and televisions of FIG. 32 may beplaced in rooms within home 265. For example, set top box 90,videocassette recorder 91 and television 92 may be placed in a parent'sbedroom, television 94 may be placed in a children's room, andtelevision 96 may be placed in a living room, and television 98 may beplaced in a guest room. Communication paths 99 may be any in-homenetwork paths suitable for transmitting video, audio and data, such as,dedicated cable, fiber optics or firewire links. FIGS. 33 a 33 b 33 c,34, and 35 show illustrative configurations for the connection betweenthe home and the television distribution facility. Only one usertelevision equipment device is shown in the households in FIGS. 33 a, 33b, 33 c, 34, and 35 to avoid over-complicating the drawings. However,each household 265, 101, 102, 103, 104, 301, 302 in FIGS. 33 a, 33 b, 33c, 34, and 35 may contain multiple pieces of user television equipmentconfigured as shown in FIG. 29, 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, 31, or 32.

FIG. 33 a shows an illustrative configuration in which multiple homesare handled by a common server. Server 105 may be located at centralfacility 100. Central facility 100 may be a private home, a commercialbuilding, a network node, or other suitable structure that may beconnected to a plurality of homes. In the example of FIG. 33 a, server105 is connected to user television equipment 106, 107, 108, and 109that is located in homes 101, 102, 103, and 104, respectively viacommunication paths 700. When multiple user television equipment devicesexist within a home as shown by devices 109 a and 109 b, each usertelevision equipment device may communicate with the server 105independently via communication paths 700, alternatively only one devicemay communicate while the other communicates via a home network. Inother words, in alternative arrangements, there are either 1) multipleconnections to an outside server and each user television equipmentdevice communicates with the server independently with no need for anin-home network, or, 2) only one connection to an outside server andeach user television device communicates with each other through anin-home network.

As shown in FIG. 33 b, the capabilities of server 242 (FIG. 27) may beprovided using servers 56 located at network nodes 258. Servers such asservers 56 may be used instead of server 242 or may be used inconjunction with a server 242 located at television distributionfacility 238.

Graphics information for messages, advertisements and the like may bedownloaded periodically (e.g., once per day) to set-top boxes 248 ofFIG. 27 and stored locally. The graphics information may be accessedlocally when needed by the program guides implemented on set-top boxes248. Graphics information may also be provided in a continuously-loopedarrangement on one or more digital channels on paths 246. With such acontinuously-looped arrangement, a map indicating the location of thelatest graphics information may be downloaded periodically to set-topboxes 248 (e.g., once per day) or continuously. This allows the contenton the digital channels to be updated. The program guides on set-topboxes 248 may use the map to locate desired graphics information on thedigital channels. Another approach involves using a server such asserver 242 or servers 256 (FIG. 33 b) to provide the graphicsinformation after a set-top box 248 and that server have negotiated toset up a download operation. A bitmap or other suitable set of graphicsinformation may then be downloaded from the server to the set-top box.If desired, the server may download instructions informing the set-topbox where the desired graphics information can be located on aparticular digital channel. The graphics information can be updatedperiodically if the server that is responsible for downloading theinstructions for informing the set-top box of the location of thegraphics information is also updated periodically.

Text information for messages, advertisements and the like may beprovided to set-top boxes 248 using the same paths that are used fordistributing program guide data. For example, advertising data fromdatabase 236 of FIG. 27 may be provided to set-top boxes 248 using link240, television distribution facility 238, and paths 246. The textinformation may be stored locally in set-top boxes 248 and updatedperiodically (e.g., once per day).

Text information, graphics information, and videos for messages,advertisements and the like may also be distributed using a combinationof these techniques or any other suitable technique.

As shown in FIG. 33 c, when a household has more than one home, the usertelevision equipment in each home may be connected by modem link orother suitable link for transferring data between homes. For example,user television equipment 403 may be connected to user televisionequipment 404 via link 405. Link 405 may use internal or externalmodems, cable modems or other communications devices suitable fortransmitting audio, video, and text data. In this manner, home 401 andhome 402 may share program guide settings.

As shown in FIG. 33 d, when a household has more than one home, the usertelevision equipment in each home may be connected via an outsideserver. For example, user television equipment 413 may be connected touser television equipment 414 via server 410. Communication paths 415may use internal or external modems, cable modems or othercommunications devices suitable for transmitting audio, video, and textdata. In this manner, home 411 and home 412 may share program guidesettings.

FIG. 34 shows an illustrative configuration in which a server isconnected to the home via the Internet. Set top boxes 122 are connectedto the Internet 110 or other suitable data network in real time usingreal-time communications devices 121. Videocassette recorders 123 may beconnected between set-top boxes 122 and televisions 124. Real-timecommunications devices 121 may be any devices suitable for maintaining aconstant open connection with network 110, such as internal or externalmodems, cable modem, or the like. The network used to connect homes totelevision distribution facility 238 may be any network suitable fordistributing video and audio data such as the Internet. Network 110 isconnected to television distribution facility 238 by communications link115 and is connected to real-time communications device 121 bycommunications links 120.

FIG. 35 shows an illustrative configuration in which user televisionequipment is linked to a server outside the home via an occasionalreturn path. Set top box 132 is connected to occasional return pathcommunications device 130 and videocassette recorder 134. Videocassetterecorder 134 may be connected to television 136. Occasional return pathcommunications device 130 may be any device suitable for connectingset-top box 132 to a server for the transfer of video and audio data,such as an internal or external modem, cable modem, or the like.Occasional return path communications device 130 server 42 which may ormay not be connected to television distribution facility 238 using acommunications path 131. Communications path 131 may be, for example, atelephone link or other non-dedicated communications path suitable forproviding an occasional return path to home 265 from server 242.

FIG. 36 shows illustrative components for user television equipment 244(FIG. 27). In the arrangement of FIG. 36, set top box 248 is connectedto data input device 140. Data input device 140 may be a keyboard,keypad, or any device suitable for inputting text (wired or wireless),audio or video. Videocassette recorder 250 is connected to set-top box248 and television 252. Remote control 254 is used to control theoperation of set-top box 248, videocassette recorder 250, and television252.

Further aspects of the invention are described in detail below. Forclarity, the principles of the invention described below are describedin the context of the device configuration shown in FIG. 29 and thesteps illustrated of FIG. 28, except where noted. However, theprinciples of the present invention also apply to configurations such asthose shown in FIGS. 30 a-35. Also, the foregoing description is merelyillustrative of the principles of this invention and variousmodifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention.

In any of the above arrangements, an interactive television programguide on each user television equipment device may provide variousfeatures for displaying television program listings information for theuser and for providing various program guide functions such as parentalcontrol, favorites, pay-per-view purchasing, etc. For example, if theuser presses the appropriate buttons on remote control 254, the user maybe presented with a time-ordered or channel-ordered grid or table oftelevision program listings or other such programming information.

With one suitable approach, the user may select one of the usertelevision equipment devices to be a master or primary device. Adjustingthe program guide settings of the master device controls these settingsfor all other devices in the household. For example, with thearrangement of FIG. 29, the user may set primary user televisionequipment 260 to be the master device. Primary user television equipment260 may be located in the parents' bedroom. This allows the head of thehousehold to control the program guide settings for all of the programguides in the household from a single location.

The system may provides the user with an opportunity to assign a masterdevice, such as user television equipment 260, that will coordinate itsprogram guide settings with other devices such as secondary usertelevision equipment 261, 262, and 263. The system also provides theuser with an opportunity to assign secondary devices.

One suitable way in which the system may allow the user to assigndevices as primary (master) and secondaries is for at least one of theprogram guides (e.g., the program guide running on set-top box 260) toprovide an assign locations screen such as assign locations screen 1160of FIG. 37. Screen 1160 may be accessed, for example, by first accessingmain screen 1170 of FIG. 38 (by pressing, e.g., a suitable key on remotecontrol 254). After accessing screen 1170, the user can use remotecontrol 254 to move highlight region 1177 to the setup option 1179 andselect setup option 1179 by pressing a select key, enter key, “OK” key,or other such key (sometimes referred to herein as simply an enter key)on remote control 254.

Selecting setup option 1179 directs the program guide to display a setupscreen such as setup screen 310 of FIG. 43. The user can select assignlocation option 316 on setup screen 310 by moving highlight region 312and pressing the enter key. Selecting assign location option 316 directsthe program guide to display assign locations screen 1160 of FIG. 37.The user can then move highlight region 1162 to set B option 1165.Selecting option 1165, directs the program guide to provide the userwith an opportunity to enter a name to assign to set B. For example, theuser may use data input device 140 or remote control 254 to enter theletters associated with the selected name. The program guide may usesuch user-defined device names when the relationship between devices isset up. For example, the user may designate the “parents room” locationas a master location and may designate the “children's room” location asa slave location.

The names of locations may be pre-set by a service provider and simplyassigned by the user. Alternately the user (or an installationtechnician), may have the ability to assign locations from the home. Thelocation name may be chosen from a list as above or typed in by the user(or an installation technician.)

In the alternative arrangements shown in FIGS. 30 a, 30 b, and 30 c,each piece of user television equipment 66, 67, 68, and 69 is a peer.The user can assign names to each such user television equipment devicein much the same way that names may be assigned to the secondary devicesin the FIG. 29 arrangement.

As shown in FIG. 40, at step 1000, the program guide may provide theuser with an opportunity to select the devices or locations for whichthe user desires to adjust settings. Step 1000 may, for example, involveproviding a screen such as select location screen 400 of FIG. 39. Atstep 1001 of FIG. 40, after the user has made a selection by movinghighlight region 1155 (FIG. 40) to the desired device (e.g., parents'room option 1154) and pressed the enter key, the program guide sets theselected locations. The guide may also default to a particular locationbased on the type of setting that is changed. (e.g., if a setting forthe recording of a program is changed, the guide may default to locationwith a videocassette recorder.) The guide may default to any combinationof locations based on the type of setting that is changed. There arealso “other factors” that may be used by the guide to determine at whichlocation the settings will be effective. These include: the currentlocation of the user making the adjustment, whether a location to beadjusted is currently being used, the state of other settings, etc.

The program guide may allow a unique number to be assigned to a user sothat he or she is able to access his or her program guide settings at alocation outside the home. For example, a user may visit a neighborshome to housesit while the neighbor is out of town. This user has theability to log on to the program guide at the neighbors home and accesshis or her personal program guide settings.

The user may be provided with an opportunity to select programs forrecording at a later time. For example, if the user presses anappropriate button (e.g., a “record” button) after having used a browsefeature to navigate to a program listing for “Holiday Entertaining” asshown in FIG. 41, the program guide at the user's location may presentthe user with a set recording screen such as set recording screen 270 ofFIG. 42. Set recording screen 270 allows the user to set a selectedprogram 274 (Holiday Entertaining) for recording by the program guide byselecting yes option 272 with highlight region 271. If the user selectsno option 273, set recording screen 270 is canceled.

If a household has only one videocassette recorder 250, there will onlybe one location that will make all recordings, regardless of whichlocation the recordings are set from. If there are multiplevideocassette recorders, the user may be presented with select locationscreen 400 of FIG. 39 after selecting the yes option 272, that providesthe user with an opportunity to select the location that will make therecording. If desired multiple locations may be selected. The guide maychoose which VCR is used based on which VCR is busy or based on otherfactors.

At the scheduled broadcast time of the program to be recorded, theprogram guide at each selected location causes videocassette recorder250 to begin recording. After the scheduled completion of the broadcastof the recorded program, each program guide causes its videocassetterecorder 250 to stop recording. The guides may cause videocassetterecorders 250 to stop and start recording by sending an IR signal to thevideocassette recorders IR input or by, any other suitable method fortransmitting a signal to a videocassette recorder.

A series recording option may also be provided that allows users torecord program series. Series recording is described in theabove-mentioned Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/330,792, filed Jun. 11, 1999 (Attorney Docket No. UV-56).

The discussion thus far has focused on implementing the invention withan interactive television program guide. The invention may also beapplied to non-program-guide applications. These non-program-guideapplications run on user television equipment such as a set-top box. Forexample, an Internet browser may be run on a set-top box connected to atelevision. Internet application settings can be coordinated amongtelevisions and/or set-top boxes within a household in the same way thatprogram guide settings are coordinated among program guides in thehouse.

One non-program-guide application that may be implemented in accordancewith the present invention is an Internet browser. An Internet browsermay have settings such as bookmarks, parental control settings, andgeneral preferences that control how the browser functions. As shown inFIG. 24, a browser application screen 700, may have a bookmark option705. After adding a bookmark, the system allows the bookmark and othersettings to be effective on other locations in the household. Forexample, a user may select bookmark option 705 and add a bookmark (i.e.,a record of the address of the current web site that can be used toaccess the site). Through a network, in accordance with the presentinvention, the application can make the bookmark effective on otherlocations in the household. Accordingly, the user can choose to applysettings adjustments to all locations by selecting an apply to alloption or may opt to apply the adjustments to a specific location orlocations by selecting a select locations option from the optionsprovided by the program guide. The guide may apply the settings to adefault location or to a location determined by other factors asdescribed above.

Another application that may be implemented in accordance with thepresent invention is an shopping application. A shopping application mayhave settings such as a default shipping address, and credit cardnumber. As shown in FIG. 25, a shopping application screen 730, hassettings such as a shipping address 720, and credit card number 725.After adding a shipping and credit card information, the system allowsthe shipping address, credit card number and other settings to beeffective on other locations in the household. For example, a user canadd a shipping address. Through a network, in accordance with thepresent invention, the application can make the shipping addresseffective on other locations in the household. Accordingly, the user canchoose to apply settings adjustments to all locations by selecting anapply to all option or may opt to apply the adjustments to a specificlocation or locations by selecting a select locations option from theoptions provided by the program guide. The guide may apply the settingsto a default location or to a location determined by other factors asdescribed above.

Another non-program-guide application that may be implemented on usertelevision equipment and coordinated with other such applications inaccordance with the present invention is a stock ticker. A stock tickermay have settings such as settings indicating the top 10 stocks in whichthe user is interested. As shown in FIG. 26, a stock ticker settingsscreen 710 has a ticker symbol 712 and a top 10 stocks option 715. Forexample, a user may add a top stock. Then, through a network, inaccordance with the present invention, the application can make the top10 stock settings effective on other locations in the household.Accordingly, the user can choose to apply the adjustments to alllocations by selecting an apply to all option or may opt to apply theadjustments to a specific location or locations by selecting a selectlocations option from the options provided by the program guide. Theguide may apply the settings to a default location or to a locationdetermined by other factors as described above.

A chat application may be implemented on user television equipment suchas a set top box. Chat applications are services that allow users toexchange chat messages with other users in real time. A chat applicationmay be implemented as a stand-alone chat application or as part ofanother application such as a program guide application. A user mayadjust settings associated with a chat application such as the size of achat window or whether to filter potentially offensive messages. Chatapplications that may be implemented on user television equipment aredescribed in McKissick et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/356,270, filed Jul. 16, 1999, filed concurrently herewith (AttorneyDocket No. UV-101), which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety. After the user adjusts chat settings, the user can chooseto apply the chat settings adjustments to all locations by selecting anapply to all option or may opt to apply the adjustments to a specificlocation or locations by selecting a select locations option. Settingsmay be coordinated between the chat applications using options providedby the chat application. The chat application may apply the settings toa default location or to a location determined by other factors asdescribed above.

If desired, the settings of an e-mail application running on differentuser television equipment devices in the household may be coordinated.When the user adjusts the e-mail settings associated with one usertelevision equipment device, the system coordinates the operation of theother e-mail applications so that the adjusted e-mail settings may beused by the other e-mail applications.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this inventionand various modifications can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A program guide system comprising: a firstinteractive program guide enabling a user to navigate through displayedprogram listings and which is configured to run on a user equipmentdevice, wherein the user equipment device is coupled to a remote programguide access device by a remote access link, wherein: the remote programguide access device is configured to run a second interactive programguide enabling a user to navigate through displayed program listings;and the second interactive program guide enables the user to accessfeatures of the guide to set settings thereof, wherein the secondinteractive program guide is configured to communicate the set settingsover the remote access link to update the settings in the firstinteractive program guide on the user equipment device thereby tocontrol the first interactive program guide on the user equipmentdevice.
 9. The system defined in claim 8 wherein the first interactiveprogram guide is configured to block a program or channel based on aparental control setting, and wherein the second interactive programguide enables the user to set the parental control setting and transferthe parental control setting over the remote access link to update theparental control setting in the first interactive program guide.
 10. Thesystem defined in claim 8 wherein the second interactive program guideenables the user to adjust channel settings and other preferences whichadjustments are transferred to the first interactive program guide overthe remote access link.
 11. The system defined in claim 8 wherein: theuser equipment device comprises a communications device connected to theremote access link; and the second interactive program guide is furtherconfigured to enable the user to control the first interactive programguide via the communications device with the second interactive programguide.
 12. The system defined in claim 8 wherein: the first interactiveprogram guide is also configured to run in part on a communicationsdevice located at a television distribution facility connected to theremote access link; and the second interactive program guide is furtherconfigured to enable the user to control the first interactive programguide via the communications device with the second interactive programguide.
 13. The system defined in claim 8 wherein: the first interactiveprogram guide is also configured to run in part on a communicationsdevice connected to a program guide server at a television distributionfacility; and the second interactive program guide is further configuredto enable the user to control the first interactive program guide viathe communications device and the program guide server with the secondinteractive program guide.
 14. The system defined in claim 8 wherein:the first interactive program guide is also configured to run in part onan Internet service system connected to program guide distributionequipment located at a television distribution facility; and the secondinteractive program guide is further configured to enable the user tocontrol the first interactive program guide via the Internet servicesystem and the program guide distribution equipment with the secondinteractive program guide.
 15. The system defined in claim 8 wherein:the first interactive program guide is also configured to run in part onan Internet service system connected to a program guide server locatedat a television distribution facility; and the second interactiveprogram guide is further configured to enable the user to control thefirst interactive program guide via the Internet service system and theprogram guide server with the second interactive program guide.
 16. Thesystem defined in claim 8 wherein one of the features of the secondinteractive program guide enables the user to select to schedule areminder for a television program; and remotely schedule the programmingreminder over the remote access link with the first interactive programguide.
 17. The system defined in claim 16 wherein: the secondinteractive program guide enables the user to schedule the programmingreminder and transfer the setting for the reminder to the firstinteractive program guide over the remote access link; and the firstinteractive program guide generates the programming reminder for theprogram.
 18. The system defined in claim 17 wherein the firstinteractive program guide generates the programming reminder for theprogram by sending an e-mail message to the user.
 19. The system definedin claim 17 wherein the first interactive program guide is furtherconfigured to generate the reminder with the user equipment device. 20.The system defined in claim 16 wherein the second interactive programguide is further configured to store the programming reminder set by theuser and to generate the programming reminder with the secondinteractive program guide.
 21. The system defined in claim 8 wherein thesecond interactive program guide is further configured to obtain programlistings information from the first interactive program guide over theremote access link and to provide the program listings information tothe user.
 22. A method for using a program guide, the method comprising:enabling, using a first interactive program guide, a user to navigatethrough displayed program listings, wherein: the first interactiveprogram guide is configured to run on a user equipment device coupled toa remote program guide access device by a remote access link; the remoteprogram guide access device is configured to run a second interactiveprogram guide enabling a user to navigate through displayed programlistings; and the second interactive program guide enables the user toaccess features of the guide to set settings thereof, wherein the secondinteractive program guide is configured to communicate the set settingsover the remote access link to control the first interactive programguide on the user equipment device; and updating, in the firstinteractive program guide, the settings based on the communicatedsettings.
 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the first interactiveprogram guide is configured for: blocking a program or channel based ona parental control setting received from the second interactive programguide, wherein the second interactive program guide: enables the user toset the parental control setting, and transfer the set parental controlsetting over the remote access link to update the parental controlsetting in the first interactive program guide.
 24. The method of claim22 wherein one of the features of the second interactive program guideenables the user to adjust channel settings and other preferences whichadjustments are transferred to the first interactive program guide overthe remote access link.
 25. The method of claim 22 wherein: the userequipment device comprises a communications device connected to theremote access link; and the second interactive program guide is furtherconfigured to enable the user to control the first interactive programguide via the communications device with the second interactive programguide.
 26. The method of claim 22 wherein the first interactive programguide is further configured for: running in part on a communicationsdevice located at a television distribution facility connected to theremote access link, wherein the second interactive program guide isfurther configured to enable the user to control the first interactiveprogram guide via the communications device with the second interactiveprogram guide.
 27. The method of claim 22 wherein the first interactiveprogram guide is further configured for: running in part on acommunications device connected to a program guide server at atelevision distribution facility, wherein the second interactive programguide is further configured to enable the user to control the firstinteractive program guide via the communications device and the programguide server with the second interactive program guide.
 28. The methodof claim 22 wherein the first interactive program guide is furtherconfigured for: running in part on an Internet service system connectedto program guide distribution equipment located at a televisiondistribution facility, wherein the second interactive program guide isfurther configured to enable the user to control the first interactiveprogram guide via the Internet service system and the program guidedistribution equipment with the second interactive program guide. 29.The method of claim 22 wherein the first interactive program guide isfurther configured for: running in part on an Internet service systemconnected to a program guide server located at a television distributionfacility, wherein the second interactive program guide is furtherconfigured to enable the user to control the first interactive programguide via the Internet service system and the program guide server withthe second interactive program guide.
 30. The method of claim 22 furthercomprising: receiving, from the second interactive program guide overthe remote access link, a request to remotely schedule a programmingreminder, wherein the second interactive program guide enables the userto select to schedule a reminder for a television program.
 31. Themethod of claim 30 further comprising: generating the programmingreminder for the program, wherein the second interactive program guideenables the user to schedule the programming reminder and transfer thesetting for the reminder to the first interactive program guide over theremote access link.
 32. The method of claim 31 wherein the firstinteractive program guide generates the programming reminder for theprogram by sending an e-mail message to the user.
 33. The method ofclaim 31 wherein the first interactive program guide is furtherconfigured to generate the reminder with the user equipment device. 34.The method of claim 30 wherein the second interactive program guide isfurther configured to store the programming reminder set by the user andto generate the programming reminder with the second interactive programguide.
 35. The method of claim 22 wherein the second interactive programguide is further configured to obtain program listings information fromthe first interactive program guide over the remote access link and toprovide the program listings information to the user.